The state Board of Health is considering sweeping changes to school health and safety rules that could offer better protection to children, but whether those changes will result in regulations rather than guidelines remains to be seen.
 
Representing the first major overhaul of the state code governing health and safety in K-12 schools since it was adopted more than 30 years ago, the proposed changes focus on three areas: safety, drinking water and indoor air quality.
 
Crafted from recommendations put forward by a series of work groups overseen by the Board of Health, the 25 proposals would strengthen regulations with much more specific language and stricter requirements. "If they go through, our state will have some of the most progressive school environmental health rules in the nation," said Seattle parent and scientist Mark Cooper, who was part of the work groups that developed the proposals.
 
The most significant proposals would require schools to:
-          Regularly test all school drinking water sites and fountains for lead, test for copper and cadmium on a frequency to be determined by each school's plumbing system and initial test results, and test for coliform, iron, Legionella and other contaminants when concerns arise.
 
Schools would have to follow safety limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency when applicable, and notify employees, students and parents of any contamination problems. Decisions on repairs would be left to individual districts.
 
-          Follow national guidelines for school heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
 
-          Establish plans to address mold in buildings, immediately fix problems using national guidelines, and notify students, parents and staff.
 
 
-          Regularly maintain and inspect playgrounds, test soil in play areas vulnerable to soil contamination, and fix any areas containing contaminants that are above limits set by the state Ecology Department.
 
-          Prohibit used or homemade playground equipment not approved by a certified inspector, as well as wood treated with chromated copper-arsenate or creosote. There are currently no regulations in Washington state for playgrounds, athletic fields or equipment.
 
The recommendations also call for schools to inform staff, students and parents about any environmental contamination, and greatly restrict the use of pesticides.
 
Safety training would be required, and students would be asked to sign a written contract agreeing to follow school safety rules. Requirements for proper sanitation and infection controls are also included in the proposal.
 
The state Health Department would play a major role in improving school safety, such as developing guidelines and repair options for drinking-water testing, providing guidance on building maintenance and environmentally friendly cleaning materials, advising schools on how to monitor for water intrusion and moisture problems.
 
The review comes after years of lobbying by activists, including Kären Ahern, who became aware of environmental hazards in 1992, when her daughter Alanna was a fourth-grader.
 
Alanna, who had allergies and asthma, became sick from exposure to a solvent used by workers removing floor tiles at her Bainbridge Island school. The solvent contained naphthalene, commonly used in mothballs and classified by the EPA as a possible carcinogen. Exposure can also cause eye, liver and neurological damage, the EPA says.
 
Ahern said her daughter experienced headaches, nausea and extreme fatigue, and was diagnosed with "chemical shock." The school's ventilation system was revamped, but Ahern said Alanna's health problems lingered.
 
"Her immune system was so down that she missed a lot of school through high school," she said.
 
In response to concerns about indoor air quality, the Health Department and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction jointly developed guidelines for indoor air quality in 1995. That was followed by a health and safety guide for K-12 schools in 2000.
 
But the guidelines are voluntary, and the state's code for health and safety in K-12 schools has undergone only minor changes since it was implemented in 1971. School districts may set their own standards, as Seattle Public Schools did last fall when it approved a drinking water policy that goes far beyond EPA limits for lead and other contaminants.
 
The Health Department is expected to start rewriting the code this summer to incorporate the recent proposals. A draft is expected by the end of October.
 
The department will hold a series of workshops to seek input from school employees and local health department workers, followed by a public hearing process next spring. The Board of Health is scheduled to make a determination on the revisions next August, and implementation would start in 2007.
 
But a question still to be answered is whether the process will result in enforceable requirements or simply guidelines.
 
Nancy Bernard, the Health Department's school environmental health and safety program manager, said it is difficult to adopt national standards, since the resulting rule would be tied to a specific standard and require a rule-revision process whenever the standard changes.
 
For that reason, Bernard said, health and safety regulations are frequently based on guidance rather than enforceable rules.
 
Current regulations are enforceable by local health jurisdictions, which typically rely on fees or grants to conduct environmental work -- for example, inspecting illegal drug labs or monitoring for the West Nile virus. Charging inspection fees to schools would be "politically unpopular," Bernard said, and local health departments are facing increased demands and funding challenges of their own.
 
That likely leaves compliance up to school districts, and makes oversight unlikely.
 
Marcia Riggers, assistant state superintendent for student support, said while the education department may in the future play a larger role in school construction and maintenance, it leaves health and safety regulations to health authorities.
 
Ahern is skeptical that the proposals will result in better protection for children.
 
"I have really lost faith in our state departments that they are going to do anything," she said. "I don't believe we're going to get laws passed. All these years, nothing's changed.”
 

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