Speak up now! The comment period closes on Feb 9.

Once put into law, schools will be tasked with implementation.

The WA State Board of Health (WBOH) released the draft health and safety rules, which have not been updated in over 20 years. Please comment or question anything that doesn’t seem useful, reasonable, or accurate. Use the School Environmental Health and Safety Rule comment form. This is the time for private schools to decide whether these rules are undoable or need revision.

  • The first section of the draft rules lists all of the new rules. After page 29, the new rules are compared to the old rules.
  • There is much mention of “creating a plan.” This strategy gives schools time to make a plan that outlines when they can comply, helping to alleviate the need to comply immediately.

WFIS’ suggested comments, if they are helpful:

  1. School inspections should occur no more than once every three years or five years if no significant issues arise (page 12, #2).
  2. The cost of required changes must be considered before any rules are passed, with the understanding that private schools pay for all facility maintenance and paperwork requirements.
  3. These regulations will overrun small schools and should be rightsized for small programs.