In Person Learning?

 Back to School?

Perhaps it is time that we all stop pretending that air quality in Schools was perfect pre-Covid. It was more than we teachers who referred to certain Schools as "sick buildings". Now we are forced to clean it all up, because it will not just be the children with existing respiratory problems who will suffer. Now "poor air quality and circulation" can cause illness and death in more people. Have we forgotten that we were forced to bring in the County Hazmat Team to force remediation in at least 2 buildings in the past? Some of us remember Legionnaires Disease and how it was nurtured in poorly maintained HVAC systems, in the elegant Bellevue-Stratford Hotel.

Has the Right to Know been made available to teachers and Community Members so they can check to see what has changed since March of 2020? Have ducts been cleaned, new filters installed, etc. All over the country big businesses, like Pritchard Industries, Inc. have been making millions of dollars per school District. I have never been impressed by their work. Do they test their employees? Things have certainly changed since we learned that the virus is aerosolized. Last I checked our agenda, they have not missed a check.

If the nexus of the virus is in the Community, the teachers need to be vaccinated and gradually moved back into the classrooms before adding students to the equation. It makes little to no sense to say that children are not getting and spreading the virus. Most of the children have been "out of Community Circulation" since March of 2020. It is the adults who have been exposed. Will that scenario change once schools are open? Oh and, has it even been discussed that there is no vaccine for children under 16?

The Board of Education must also demonstrate that they, themselves, trust that the buildings are clean, sanitized and safe, by meeting in person for BOE meetings. Follow the CDC Guidelines and set the example.

NJ Right to Know

What We Do
The Community Right to Know program performs the following functions and supplies the following services:

• Collects and stores chemical inventory information
• Assists emergency planners and first responders by providing them with information about on-site chemical hazards 
• Provides compliance assistance
• Investigates complaints and notifications of unauthorized activities
• Conducts inspections
• Issues enforcement documents, both formal and informal, which may include assessed penalties
  
• Find more information on submitting your annual CRTK Report. There are also links to various documents and reports you may find useful