Question from jo
Hi, Hoping that you and your readers can offer me some insight. My daughter is scheduled to start 1st grade next fall. The school she is supposed to go to has had some serious construction/renovation/additions. The odor was so overpowering this year that I pulled her out and had her go to an overflow school that she previously went to and that has had no construction. In the fall she will have no choice but to move to the school with all the outgassing. They are scheduled to do huge amounts of additional construction starting in jan 2013 and to continue through the summer, so no doubt the outgassing will be even worse when she is to start in the fall. My other option is to try and “choice” her into a school nearby. Unfortunately that school is a little less than 1/2 mile from a major highway. It is not inner city but more treed suburbia. But still that is a lot closer to highway pollution than I would prefer my 5 year old to spend 7 hours of each day. So how do I know which is worse? help!
Debra’s Answer
Well first of all, you do have a right to have your daughter have a safe environment at school, and you are right that new construction will be outgassing toxic chemicals, particularly since they probably are taking no precautions otherwise.
I would consider her regular school to be more toxic with the new construction, than a school without construction 1/2 mile from a freeway.
But could we think outside the box here? New construction is likely to make all the children sick to one degree or another. Could they do less toxic construction? Move classes to a different building? Could some parents get together and homeschool children until the new construction is done outgassing?
Go to the school board now and voice your concerns.
