GREEN FLAG SCHOOLS GET ENVIRONMENTAL AWARDS

'Green Flag' schools get environmental awards

LOS ANGELES — California Safe Schools (CSS) Executive Director Robina Suwol presented national environmental awards to the Los Angeles Unified School District's (LAUSD) Aldama and Fernangeles Elementary, Millikan, and Sun Valley Middle Schools, which are among the first schools to participate in the national Green Flag Program, a "hands-on" instructional program for kids, according to a CSS press release.

LAUSD Director of Environmental Health and Safety Angelo Bellomo and California Safe Schools picked up certificates of recognition for their outstanding environmental health efforts, CSS reported.


CSS worked with LAUSD, the nation's second-largest school district with 800 sites, to create, in 1999, the most stringent pesticide policy in the nation for schools.

The policy embraces the "precautionary principle", parents' right to know, and to ensure implementation a 15-member pest management team meet monthly, CSS said.

Suwol became involved with environmental issues when her son Nicholas, 6, was sprayed with pesticides by a hazmat-outfitted LAUSD gardener as he entered school, sparking a severe asthma attack.

A year later, the LAUSD board, by unanimous decision, adopted an integrated pest management policy (IPM), which has become the model for school districts, and communities throughout the nation.

The Green Flag Program was founded by Lois Gibbs, the activist and housewife who 25 years ago battled toxic waste in Love Canal, New York.

Suwol worked with Gibbs to bring the program to Los Angeles, CSS noted.

"There are many school programs that teach young people about the environment; the Green Flag Program is the first that teaches them how the environment affects their health. In this program, students learn how to prevent environmental health problems before they start. California Safe Schools is proud to work with CHEJ to help implement the program in the Los Angeles Unified School District," Suwol said in the prepared statement.

Through the Green Flag Program, kids become detectives, proactively investigating potential environmental hazards, such as pesticide spraying, toxic cleaning products, and mold and stopping them before they become a problem, Suwol noted. The program encourages students to work with teachers, administrators, parents, businesses, and community members to ensure their school environment is safe and healthy.

Gibbs was inspired to create the Green Flag Program after the Child Proofing Our Communities Campaign, which she founded, reported that in hundreds of schools across country, children were experiencing environmental hazards that were making them sick.