Last week, WFIS visited Puget Sound ESD for the west side of the state’s School & Environmental Health & Safety workshop. Morning sessions included a presentation from the DOH’s Ali Boris. She’s taken the lead on indoor air quality (IAQ) and both the K12 Health & Safety and Infectious Diseases Control in Schools guides since Nancy Bernhard retired in June. Local Health Jurisdiction (LHJ) personnel Ramiro Rios of Snohomish County, Crystal Newton of Tacoma-Pierce County, and Laurette Rasmussen of Whatcom County each presented how their school inspection program is run.
Despite the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) mandating routine school inspections, not all regions of the state have established programs for this purpose. King County, home to the largest number of schools, is working to implement its inspection program within the next two years. In the meantime, King County provides School Plan Reviews, and its website says it will accommodate requests for private school inspections to ensure schools can meet SBE approval requirements without delay.
State agencies are intensely focused on specific aspects of school safety. Priorities range from lighting and noise levels across school facilities to ventilation standards for 3D printers, pest management plans, and safety protocols for art rooms, science labs, gardens, and wood shops. Broad oversight is essential to protect student health, but WFIS and many district administrators emphasize that teachers’ primary responsibility must remain on student education and care. Improving school facilities will require ongoing commitment from the entire school community over time.
