School Environmental Health and Safety Program Manager,
Washington State Department of Health
Nancy Bernard provides support to local health jurisdictions and K-12 schools. Her focus includes IAQ, asthma triggers, integrated pest management, noise control, lighting, communicable and zoonotic diseases, cleaning, disinfection, playgrounds, lab/art/shop safety, hazardous materials, and school design. She has a MPH in Environmental Health Sciences from Tulane University, a BS in Environmental Health and a BA in Health Education from the University of Washington, and served on the Lake Washington School District Board of Directors 1997 – 2017. Additionally Nancy taught hands-on science at Faith Lutheran School in Redmond for 5 years and for 3 years at the Bear Creek School.
Unhealthy air quality guidance for schools
It is challenging to balance both COVID-19 and wildfire smoke guidance as they can contradict one another.
Immense smoke from Western wildfires – cloth masks won’t help
Unfortunately, the cloth and surgical face masks that block respiratory droplets and help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus don’t provide much protection against wildfire smoke.
County DOH Toolkits for school re-opening plans
KING COUNTY August 28th King County released their King County Schools COVID-19 Response Toolkit and earlier in the week published this Frequently Asked Questions website for schools and child care. Both of these resources are living documents and will be regularly...
Updated Immunization Guidance for K-12 Schools from WA Department of Health
Yesterday OSPI sent joint guidance from DOH and OSPI to all public school superintendents. In the guidance applicable for the 2020–21 school year and K–12 programs only, DOH and OSPI state: In light of the pandemic, if a student cannot meet the immunization...
School Immunization Record Requirements & WA IIS
Beginning August 1, 2020 all new students are required to have medically verified immunization records on day one for entry into any public or private school and child care center. Learn what your school is required to do and how you can use DOH resources to streamline your efforts in this regard.
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