IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 359 

Supporting the goals and ideals of National Healthy Schools Day. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2019 

Mr. EVANS (for himself and Mr. GRIJALVA) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting the goals and ideals of National Healthy Schools 

Day. 

Whereas children spend up to half of their day in schools and 

their environs; 

Whereas schools have the potential to expose children to a 

broad array of hazards, including air and drinking water 

contaminants, toxic substances in the soil, synthetic turf 

and other media, lead-based paints, pesticides, and other 

toxins within and outside of schools, asthma-causing pollutants, molds, radon, and asbestos; 

Whereas, despite the need to address unsafe levels of lead in 

school drinking water across the country, in 2019, the 

Healthy Schools Network reported that as of November 

2018 only 9 States required public schools to test at the 

tap for lead; and further, the T.H. Chan School of Public 


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Health at Harvard University and the Nutrition Policy 

Institute at the University of California also reported 

that only 25 States had school drinking water initiatives 

between January 1, 2016, and February 28, 2018; 

Whereas a 1995 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on Condition of America’s Schools—the only GAO 

study on this issue—determined that poor school facility 

conditions were concentrated in high-poverty schools serving students of color, placing millions of children at risk; 

Whereas, according to a 2014 Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention survey, only 46.5 percent of schools had 

a program in place to address indoor air quality issues; 

and further, that fewer States and districts in 2014 than 

in 2010 were addressing indoor air; 

Whereas children may also be exposed to toxic contaminants 

when schools are sited near environmental hazards such 

as hazardous waste disposal sites, or when schools are 

renovated or expanded while school is in session; 

Whereas the T.H. Chan School of Public Health ‘‘Schools for 

Health’’ study reported that the environmental conditions 

of schools affect children’s ‘‘health, thinking, and learning’’; 

Whereas environmental contaminants can affect children 

quite differently than adults, both because children may 

be more highly exposed to contaminants and they may be 

more vulnerable to the toxic effects of contaminants; and 

further, environmental contaminants can affect children 

disproportionately since their immune defenses are not 

fully developed and their growing organs are more easily 

harmed; 


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Whereas these environmental problems contribute to absenteeism, child medication use, learning difficulties, sick 

building syndrome, staff turnover, and greater liability 

for school districts; 

Whereas there has been a significant rise in the incidence of 

childhood asthma, learning disabilities, and cancer; 

Whereas a 2018 study, ‘‘Heat and Learning’’, by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that in 

schools without air conditioning, for every 1 Fahrenheit 

degree increase in school year temperature, the amount 

learned by students that year goes down by 1 percent; 

Whereas a 2016 report by the 21st Century School Fund 

found that, between 2012 and 2013, the average age of 

the main building of a public school was 44 years old; 

Whereas, in 2017, the American Society of Civil Engineers 

infrastructure report card stated 53 percent of schools 

needed to make investments for repairs, renovations, and 

modernizations to be considered to be in ‘‘good’’ condition; 

Whereas environmental, public health, and education laws 

must reflect a heightened sensitivity to the more susceptible nature of children and the mechanisms by which exposures and impacts affect children; 

Whereas providing for the rights of children, parents, teachers and other educators, and the public to access information about known hazards in schools will allow these 

persons to make informed choices about environmental 

exposures for their children and themselves; 

Whereas healthy and high-performance schools are designed 

to reduce energy and maintenance costs, while providing 

cleaner indoor air and environmental quality, improved 


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lighting, reduced exposures to toxic substances, materials 

and supplies, thereby providing a healthier and safer 

learning environment for children and work environment 

for personnel, fostering attendance, achievement, and 

productivity; 

Whereas the House of Representatives has been a consistent 

and powerful advocate for the protection of our children 

and a strong supporter of public education; 

Whereas the House of Representatives seeks to promote 

healthy learning places for all children and workplaces 

for school personnel; 

Whereas Federal, State, local, and private sector entities 

should work together to ensure that resources are used 

effectively and efficiently to address environmental health 

and safety conditions of schools; and 

Whereas May 1, 2019, is recognized as ‘‘National Healthy 

Schools Day’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports the goals and ideals of National 

3 Healthy Schools Day; 

4 (2) recognizes the importance of improving our 

5 children’s aging school buildings; 

6 (3) encourages State and local governments, in7 cluding their public health, education, environment, 

8 energy, and labor agencies, to coordinate their ef9 forts to assist local schools, and to publicize the im10 portance of healthful learning environments in their 

11 communities; and 


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1 (4) supports a national commitment to pre2 venting the deterioration of our schools and to fixing 

3 our crumbling school facilities. 

Æ 


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