Welcome to my blog.
This blog is a forum for us to interact and share thoughts on industry trends, recent insights, best practices and processes…whatever seems most relevant at the time.
Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts, provide feedback and ideas either here on the blog, or send me an email. I would like to learn about your insights and share them with your educational operations colleagues!
Feel free to email me! Roger Young, Executive Director of Facility Masters / K12Masters.com.
Few pest problems cause as much concern and anxiety for students, parents, instructors and staff as the presence of bed bugs and lice.
Inspection, prevention and immediate intervention are the keys to avoiding costly and troublesome infestations of these unwanted pests, which present special challenges that should be addressed with targeted IPM initiatives to ensure a healthy learning environment.
Get some tips and best practices from these IPM for Bed Bugs Resources:
You can visit the Environmental Issues and Risk Management Resources here on the Facility Masters site to get free IPM resource downloads, including: Bed Bug Checklist, IPM Job Descriptions, IPM Fiscal Analysis, Deep Cleaning Guidelines, and Head Lice Fact Sheet.
A proactive chemical safety plan is the key to detecting possible hazards, managing the related risks and providing a healthy learning environment for students, teachers and staff. Here are some free, helpful resources to help you develop an effective chemical management plan.
The Center for Green Schools at USGBC is joining with Jim Elder of the Campaign for Environmental Literacy to host a webcast for K12 schools interested in pursuing a Green Ribbon Award through the U.S. Department of Education. We’ll be reviewing the criteria and discussing the application process in detail with webcast attendees. Generally, applications to state departments of education are due in the next couple of weeks, so the need for technical assistance is immediate.
For more information about the Green Ribbon Schools award, visit the Department of Education’s web site on the program.
Green Ribbon Schools: Application Assistance
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 4:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00)
Event number: 753 402 875
Event password: Gr33n1
Event address for attendees: https://usgbc.webex.com/usgbc/onstage/g.php?d=753402875&t=a
Call-in toll-free number (US/Canada): 1-866-469-3239
Access code: 753 402 875
Protecting students, teachers and staff from the dangers of unauthorized visitors accessing educational facilities requires detailed safety and security planning. Your visitor access control program should effectively secure the building exterior and entry points, as well as provide detailed tracking of all guests and authorized personnel with the time, location and purpose for accessing the facility.
One method for securing both exterior and interior entrances is electronic access control. Our peer Ann Degnan from Long Branch Public Schools, NJ shared what her district is doing with electronic door access:
“We currently have outside – as well as inside – doors on the access systems in all of our newest buildings. The system allows us to print a card with times and days that staff are allowed access. It also allows us to run reports on specific cards and specific doors. For example, I am able to verify a staff member’s entry time. We also use the inside doors to isolate areas of the building to be used by the public after school hours. Our access software also controls the cameras in some of the schools, providing a complete system that is used by all our administrative staff.”
“We use Schlage as our hardware vendor for locks, but we are using AMAG software to print the cards, manage the card access and also manage cameras. It is a complete system that functions well for us – we currently use it in 6 buildings. It functions across the district allowing me to program access to different buildings on a single card.”
Ann Degnan, CEFM - Facilities Manager – Long Branch Public Schools, NJ
One important aspect of energy conservation programs in educational institutions is keeping building occupants (students, teachers, staff) informed about your goals and getting them involved in reducing electricity usage. One method to keep everyone in the loop and share your successes is a newsletter.
Lisa Randall of Santa Fe Public Schools shared an example of her district’s newsletter and explained how it is an important component of their conservation program: http://www.k12masters.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/01/Example-Energy-Conservation-Newsletter-1-12-12.pdf
“Email is a great way to keep staff, students, and community members informed about projects, construction, energy management efforts, etc. I put out an energy management/recycling/sustainability newsletter, and although it’s a ton of work, it keeps people up to date with our efforts, challenges, and successes. Knowledge truly is power. We are looking into energy dashboards, which after submetering electricity, gas, and water, will allow each site to engage more meaningfully with their school’s energy use, and begin to set school goals for reduction.”
Lisa Randall – Energy Conservation Program Coordinator – Santa Fe Public Schools
A smaller number of our colleagues think about their roof only when there’s a problem—usually a leak. And by that time, there is already damage to occuring.
It is important to have a PM program to reduce the number of problems
The national school IPM steering committee recently published two free IPM case study documents: The Business Case for Integrated Pest Management in Schools: Cutting Costs and Increasing Benefits and Reducing your Child’s Asthma using Integrated Pest Management: A Practical Home Guide for Parents
I think that you will find both documents both useful and informative
Please let me know what you think of them
I am sharing the following note from Anisa at the Center for Green Schools with you.
Thank you for indicating your interest in learning more about the U.S. Green Building Council and the Center for Green Schools on the November K12 Masters webcast about Green Ribbon Schools.
Our team thought you would be interested in learning more about what the Center has been up to over the past few months. Below you will find our most recent newsletter, including updates on our Greenbuild Conference & Expo, the Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools Program and the Center’s recent poll on green schools.
To sign up to receive our newsletters quarterly, please create a site user account through USGBC.org and subscribe to the new Center for Green Schools newsletter under “subscriptions.”
Please feel free to get in touch at any time. We are in contact with facilities staff around the country who are implementing healthy, more efficient measures in their schools, and we are always looking to grow our understanding about what schools and school districts are up to.
Happy Holidays!
Anisa
Anisa Baldwin Metzger, LEED AP BD+C
Green Schools Fellowship Program Manager
Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council
2101 L Street NW, Suite 500 | Washington DC | 20037
Cell: 202.701.0681
www.centerforgreenschools.org
The December School IPM 2015 eNewsletter features the following articles: Building Out Pests, Pest Presses Provide a Wealth of Information, and Parents: Become an Advocate for IPM in your Child’s School.
http://www.ipminstitute.org/school_ipm_2015/Dec11_eNewsletter.htm
Some schools use a biometrics time clocks on the campuses for the maintenance departments.