Achieving Healthy School Siting and Planning Policies: Understanding Shared Concerns of Environmental Planners, Public Health Professionals, and Educators

Abstract

Policy decisions regarding the quality of the physical school environment—both, school siting and school facility planning policies—are often considered through the lens of environmental planning, public health, or education policy, but rarely through all three. Environmental planners consider environmental justice issues on a local level and/or consider the regional impact of a school. Public health professionals focus on toxic exposures and populations particularly vulnerable to negative health outcomes. Educators and education policymakers emphasize investing in human capital of both students and staff. By understanding these respective angles and combining these efforts around the common goals of achieving adequacy and excellence, we can work towards a regulatory system for school facilities that recognizes children as a uniquely vulnerable population and seeks to create healthier school environments in which children can learn and adults can work.

Air Pollution Around Schools Is Linked To Poorer Student Health And Academic Performance

“…Alison Cohen reports that because of the problem of land availability, brownfields are often considered as viable sites for schools. 35 However, building schools in previous brownfields requires great caution. The standards for cleaning brownfields up are not necessarily high enough; Michigan lowered its standards in 2000, for example.…”

School meals do not have a given place in Swedish school’s quality management

“…Consequently, there is a risk that no one takes responsibility for the school meal experience as a whole. The importance of understanding the 'whole' by considering its different elements is something that Cohen (2010) emphasises in a paper about how a healthy school can be achieved. It is reasonable to believe that this holistic perspective is just as important with respect to the delivery of nutritious and attractive school meals which children enjoy eating.…”

Environmental Justice and Green Schools—Assessing Students and Communities’ Access to Green Schools

“…One crucial methodological issue identified in empirical EJ literature hinges on the spatial unit of analysis or defining the “affected communities” (Mohai, Pellow, and Roberts, ; Mohai and Saha, ). This matters for our study because LEED certification may not only have an impact on students and staff but also influence developments in the community (Cohen, ). Public schools’ libraries and facilities are often used as public space for community meetings and gatherings (Aabø, Audunson, and Vårheim, ; Henderson and Mapp, ), directly exposing neighbors to the environmental amenity.…”