About Us

CASLE's History and Progress Report June, 2008

Canadians for A Safe Learning Environment (CASLE) is a Registered Charity that works to improve the condition of school buildings and the products and practices used in schools, so that school children and staffs have safe and healthy places to spend their days. We have developed a network of volunteer parents, teachers, affiliated groups and individuals from across our home province of Nova Scotia, Canada, and internationally. We work hand in hand with the system, using solid information, respect, and persistence as our primary tools. Much has been accomplished, but there is much yet to do.

Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee Medals were awarded to CASLE’s Debbie Hum and Karen Robinson, November 12, 2004. L to R: Debbie Hum, Corinne Harland, Nova Scotia’s Lieutenant Governor Myra Freeman, Karen Robinson and John Sparling

CASLE began in 1994 with a small group of Halifax parents whose children were harmed by conditions or incidents in their schools. We were surprised at the condition of the schools in general, and to learn that all of the children were at risk, not only from the more newly recognized environmental health concerns like indoor mold and low-level chemical exposures, but also from well established and regulated health & safety concerns, like asbestos, lead, silica, PCBs and more. We have found the situation to be much the same across North America.

Although there were many individuals and departments with partial responsibility for various aspects of children's health and welfare, we found a lack of coordination between them, and a lack of knowledge or attention to the particular needs of children as compared to adults who share the same buildings. This and other factors were causing significant gaps, and children were slipping through the cracks. Parents tended to believe that their children's needs were being taken care of in every way. And they were often wrong.

CASLE does research, educates, and assists others to provide healthy school environments. We have documented school environment quality incidents, partnered with school boards and government departments to create thorough and effective changes, and assisted dozens of groups, school boards, parents and teachers to improve schools across the Province and the continent. Our website provided years of solid information and assistance to school board maintenance managers, teachers, parents, the media, government departments, politicians, unions¼and CASLE has won several awards for the quality and effects of our work.

Selected Accomplishments of CASLE (1994-2007)

Received the Canadian Institute of Child Health's National Award of Excellence (2005)
Facilitated formal identification of asbestos content in all Nova Scotia schools and establishment of new procedures for safe removal of asbestos
Facilitated the replacement of cleaning materials containing toxic ingredients (including an endocrine disrupter as a main ingredient) with safer alternatives
Facilitated Scent-free programs, tobacco-free policies in schools and other public buildings
Facilitated reduced use of pesticides in and around schools and reduced CCA pressure-treated wood in playgrounds and new school construction
CASLE's Healthy Schools Design and Construction (2002) integrated into the Design Requirements Manual for the construction of all new public buildings, including schools, hospitals, prisons.
Recommendations adopted for full ventilation systems for all new public schools
Partnered with Dalhousie University on a national study funded by Health Canada to identify and understand the factors that facilitate or hinder the use of existing knowledge about EQ issues and the implementation of existing guidelines
Trainer/reviewer/resource for several NB Lung Association Healthy School Projects, including the Scent-Free video text and Train the Trainer for the Tools for Schools Kit
Fostered changes to teaching materials (e.g., less toxic art supplies)
Reduced the use of toxic building materials in existing schools (e.g., low-emission paint, caulks, waxes) and increased the use of isolation techniques and timing measures for renovations and maintenance of schools (e.g., not painting or tarring roofs when children are in school)
Reviewed Health Canada's draft Tools for Schools Action Kit by invitation
Two of CASLE's Board members received the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal
Served as a resource to media: CBC television and radio (e.g., Midday, Marketplace, The National), CBC Radio News, the Globe & Mail, the Wall Street Journal, the National Post, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Boston Globe, David Kelly Productions (California), and local media.

and much more.

CASLE's President, Karen Robinson, third from right) received The Cole Award for Excellence in Environment and Health with other provincial recipients of 2008 EcoAwards of the Nova Scotia Environmental Network

People are recognizing that clean air and a healthy environment are as important to learning as are a good curriculum and good teaching. Health, behaviour and learning ability are all influenced by school environments. With increased public interest in the environment, even more improvements are happening at all levels. CASLE's work toward less-toxic/low-emission cleaning materials and building materials, for example, fits well with the work of other environmentalists.

Some Work to do:

Changes in government and staff cause some priorities to be lost. Entrenching improvements in legislation would help.
Some are equating “Green” with “Healthy”. They are complementary, but not the same.
All schools would benefit from Health Canada’s Tools for Schools Kit. What is preventing it?
Periodic training is needed for principals, custodians and other staff so they can identify more hazards and know what to do.
While parents have a positive role to play on school Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committees (JOHSC), only some schools make use of parent and student input.

CASLE board members with local and provincial politicians at CASLE’s booth at a charity fair, 2006. L to R: Diana Whalen, MLA, Agnes Malouf, Karen Robinson, Janice Moore, and Geoff Regan, MP.

CASLE started as "Citizens" for A Safe Learning Environment, but changed to "Canadians" in 2007. Over the years, board members have come and gone, but al were committed to the wisdom of pairing solid information with a respectful but persistent approach. We thought CASLE would work its way out of a job. Instead, it has grown along with the awareness across the continent that there is still much to do to achieve healthy schools for all. See our membership page to join CASLE, and the donations page to help the work to continue!

Working For Healthier Schools:

Much progress has come as the result of several government departments and school boards making Indoor Environment Quality in schools a priority.

The summer of 1997 saw the first Provincial Indoor Air Quality Conference on Schools. CASLE made the opening address to "set the tone" for the two days. At this meeting CASLE introduced the US EPA Tools for Schools Kit to the Department of Education and others.
Health Inspectors and Regional Officers of Health are working closely with the regional school boards.
The Departments of Education, Health and Environment have an interdepartmental library on children and environmental health & safety.
CASLE’s report on the new Horton School (near Wolfville) from an environmental health viewpoint was widely circulated through the province by the Department of Education, and led to the Department organizing CASLE presentations to the Nova Scotia School Boards Association, the maintenance managers for the seven provincial school boards, the Department of Transportation and Public Works, Labour and Health Inspectors and the construction consortiums that build our new schools.
Since 2000, CASLE worked on the NS Department of Education's Healthy Schools Construction Committee to guide the design and construction of new schools. Of note are their Healthy Schools Design and Construction guidelines and the Building Readiness Guidelines for New School Buildings, which were used in the rewrite of the Province's Design Requirements Manual for all public buildings in NS. Among many other healthy school items, new schools will have no carpeting, no recirculated air, gymnasiums finished and offgassed early, less toxic materials, new locker design, no gas appliances, and much more.

CASLE continues to provide information and guidance, write articles, and do all we can to assist improvements to school environmental health and safety. Please join these efforts wherever you live. And donations make it all possible.

WORKING TOGETHER FOR HEALTHIER SCHOOLS!

A Look at Progress

A Look Back: Imagine this school

The basement is damp, and has old carpets wall to wall.
Whenever it rains, water leaks in around the old windows, providing a home for mould growth inside the walls.
The windows themselves have been screwed shut for fear of vandalism. (Prior to CASLE's formation, one of the accomplishments of the Halifax board's Environment Committee, which had some of CASLE's soon-to-be founders, was to get the screws out.)
The curtains have been up for 25 years but have never been washed.
When the sun shines it is too hot, and on cold winter days the children wear their coats.
The radiators are forced air, and have never been cleaned.
The custodian uses mop oil to remove dust from floors.
The photocopier and laminator sit next to the secretary's desk.
There are chemical deodorizers in the washrooms.
Chlorine bleach is used daily.
The cleaning materials contain fragrances and toxic chemicals.
There are mouldy water stains on many of the ceiling tiles.
Asbestos-covered pipes have worn, ratty areas.
The fluorescent lights are flickering and many don't have covers.
Many of these lights have the old PCB-bearing ballasts.
Halls and classrooms are painted when school is in session.
Roofs are tarred while school is in session.
It is routine to replace old asbestos floor tiles by moving the class to one side of the room while the workers break up and remove tiles and glue down the new ones. Then they are all moved to the other side to finish the job. (In one such example, two workers went home sick. One child's health has never been the same.)
Ground crews bring lawnmowers inside to refill the gas tanks - they don't want to burn any of the grass!
When the annual ant problem begins, the pest company sprays the perimeter of the school. Pesticide drifts in through the open windows over the children's desks.

This list could go on. These were normal conditions CASLE members discovered many of our province's children had been living with. Looking back, we've come a long way, but some of these conditions and others can still be still be found in our province and elsewhere.

We soon realized we had work to do on many levels if changes were to be significant, and last any longer than our own daily vigilance. Principals, teachers, custodians, board members, maintenance managers, officials of government departments, politicians, and other parents had to have their eyes opened as ours had been.

CASLE spearheaded years of strong campaigns of presentations, committee work, and more, and have, along with officials who were open to the need for change, have fostered strong improvements.

A Look at Progress:

These are examples of changes to the operation of schools. The complete list would be very long. CASLE played a role, sometimes minor, sometimes major, in each of these and many more improvements:

School boards’ maintenance managers are now engineers or other appropriately skilled professionals. These managers meet regularly with the provincial department to share information and solve problems.
Instead of building false walls to cover mouldy basements, or new drop-ceilings to cover mouldy tiles, leaks and mould are taken seriously.
The Province builds its own high quality portable classrooms because previous models were causing illness.
Carpets have been removed from schools across the province. New schools are built without.
Pesticides are not to be used in or around schools.
Less toxic paints are in use across the province. Some boards have forms signed by three officials to ensure students and staff are not exposed to paint fumes.
In some boards, chlorine bleach is used only with permission from the operations department, and only for dealing with special mould problems.
Citrus (that lemony smell) cleaners are not to be used in some boards. Limonene, or d'limonene, has been found by researchers to form formaldehyde when combined with naturally occurring ozone.
Neurotoxin-based bathroom deodorizers are not used in most school regions.
Floor waxing is happening after hours in most schools. Floor stripping is done on weekends or vacations.
About 80% of Halifax Region schools have voluntary scent-free, fragrance-free programs.
Boards have policies on Life Threatening Allergies and Anaphylaxis (e.g., serious nut allergy). CASLE served on the Halifax board's draft committee.
Smoke-free/Tobacco-free policies are being developed by some boards. CASLE served on the Halifax committee.
Schools are having photocopier rooms and laminators vented - on request in some boards, proactively in others.
When roofers began tarring during school hours, the principal evacuated the school. In another school, students and staff were removed far upwind while the principal sent the workers away.

Sunday, September 05, 2010