If you're going to be in Boston on April 27th

[Guest guest]

If anyone is around Boston on April 27th, please feel free to attend this

Boston City Council hearing at Boston City Hall at 5 pm. If you would like

to testify, that is fine as well. If you would like to write a letter

weighing in on the importance of keeping schools clean and safe for children,

teachers and other employees, feel free to do that too! Email your letters

to: _Cora.Montrond@..._

(mailto:Cora.Montrond@...) , _.F.Flaherty@..._

(mailto:.F.Flaherty@...) , _chuck.turner@..._

(mailto:chuck.turner@...) , _marymulvey@..._

(mailto:marymulvey@...)

Thanks,

Mulvey son

March 19, 2009

The Boston City Council’s Committee on Education will hold a public

hearing on Monday, April 27, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. The hearing will be held in the

A. Iannella Chamber on the 5th floor of the Boston City Hall.

The subjects of the hearing are:

· Docket #0369-Order for a hearing to review the 2007-2008 Boston

Public School report on Environmental Audit and School Infrastructure

Quality/Improvement.

· Docket #0373-Order for a hearing to examine the City’s process

for reporting school environmental audits and using the findings to help

identify and prioritize spending for facilities maintenance and capital repair

projects.

This matter was sponsored by Councilor Chuck and Flaherty

and referred to the Committee on Education on March 4, 2009.

Members of the public are cordially invited to attend and testify. If you

have not testified at a Council hearing, please arrive five (5) minutes

before the call of the hearing to sign up and become familiar with the

hearing format, testimony locations, and the sound system. Please bring

fifteen

(15) copies of any written document you wish to present at the hearing. If

you know others who may be interested in this hearing, kindly notify

them.

Written comments may be made part of the record and available to all

Councillors by sending them by fax or mail to arrive before the hearing, please

use the address below.

For the Committee:

Connolly, Chair

Committee on Education

Liaison: Cora Montrond

Mail Address: Boston City Council, One City Hall Square-Fifth Floor,

Boston, MA 02201

Tel: (617) 635-4562 Fax: (617) 635-3734

E-Mail:Cora.Montrond@...

Broadcast: Comcast 51 cablecast date/time: TBD

Webcast: _www.cityofboston.gov/citycouncil/live.asp_

(http://www.cityofboston.gov/citycouncil/live.asp) (except off site hearings)

Offered by Councillors F. Flaherty and Chuck

CITY OF BOSTON

IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND NINE

AN ORDER FOR A HEARING TO DISCUSS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ANNUAL SCHOOL

ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITS IN HELPING THE CITY IDENTIFY AND PRIORITIZE NEEDED SCHOOL

REPAIRS

Whereas: Equal opportunity for success in the classroom demands that the

City of Boston provide all students with a healthy and productive learning

environment; and

Whereas: A 2006 study conducted by the Massachusetts Coalition of

Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) and the Boston Urban Asthma Coalition

found that Boston Public School buildings with higher occurrences of asthma

triggers such as leaks, mold and pests also reported higher asthma rates

among students; and

Whereas: The city conducts school environmental audits at each Boston

Public School building which details the occurrences of asthma triggers and

repairs needed at each facility to provide all students with healthy

classrooms; and

Whereas: As stipulated by a 2006 city ordinance, a report about these

school environmental audits is supposed to be submitted to the City Council

for a public hearing on or before March 1 – before the School Department

submits its proposed budget – in order to help city officials make informed

spending decisions about school repairs; and

Whereas: While hard data from the school environmental audits is

submitted each year around March 1, the report does not provide a detailed

analysis

of the findings or link them to student asthma rates in a manner that

would present school officials with an understanding of the health risks posed

by particular repair needs; and

Whereas: The reports are not discussed at a public hearing where

students, teachers and parents would have the opportunity to provide additional

information about the health of their schools; and

Whereas: Without knowing the full scope of school repair needs, school

administrators cannot make truly informed spending decisions; and

Whereas: The School Department also lacks a mechanism to prioritize

spending needs in a way that considers the student health risks posed by each

repair need; and

Whereas: Lower-income and minority students are already more susceptible

to asthma, a condition the National Center for Health Statistics maintains

is the leading cause of school absenteeism; and

Whereas: High absentee rates inevitably compromise students’ academic

performance and underscore the correlation between health disparities and gaps

in school readiness; and

Whereas: A system for addressing needed school repairs that is efficient,

comprehensive and places a higher priority on removing asthma triggers in

our public schools will help the city make smarter and more responsible

spending decisions with its scarce school dollars while addressing health

disparities and closing the achievement gap at the same time, THEREFORE BE IT

ORDERED: That the appropriate committee of the Boston City Council

thoroughly examine the city’s process for reporting school environmental

audits

and using the findings to help identify and prioritize spending for

facilities maintenance and capital repair projects.

Filed in the City Council: March 3, 2009

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