Healthy Schools Network is enhancing its Information and Referral Clearinghouse to strengthen our support to parents, school staff, states and communities seeking help. Our goal is twofold: to help you connect with organizations and resources; and to update and modernize the tools we make available to schools. Rather than offering a single solution, Healthy Schools Network aims to help you find the right kind of support.
One Size Does Not Fit All Environmental Health Challenges
Healthy Schools Network has a long history of providing practical tools, guides, and educational resources to help address environmental health concerns in schools whether it’s tips for visiting your school, organizing your own group, or starting a green cleaning or safer pesticideprogram at your school. Specific needs vary from school to school, and may include:
- Access to tools and self-directed guidance to help you assess issues and take initial or preventive steps
- Help understanding environmental health information, such as monitoring results or environmental datasets
- Guidance on navigating regulatory, cleanup, or compliance processes related to nearby contaminated sites or legacy sources of pollution
- Identifying sources of funding, often dependent on location and circumstances
- Connections to state or local resources/services, which vary widely and can be difficult to identify without assistance.
No single organization or program addresses all of these needs, and the appropriate form and availability of support often depends on the specific issue, location, and capacity of a school or community.
How Healthy Schools Network Can Help
Through its enhanced Information and Referral Clearinghouse, Healthy Schools Network will help you:
- Identify what type of assistance you need
- Find relevant tools, information, or potential sources of support
- Reduce confusion, duplication, or misdirected outreach
Whenever possible, Healthy Schools Network will provide direct guidance or educational support. In other cases, we will serve as an experienced, trusted navigator, helping parents, school staff, states, and communities determine next steps and identify appropriate pathways forward.
How It Works
Contact us to request help or to suggest materials for inclusion in Healthy Schools Network’s Information and Referral Clearinghouse. Requests for assistance receive a follow-up email with guidance to help find the right type of support, tools and expertise. All requests are confidential.
Good News! NIOSH Staff Cuts Reversed
The Trump administration has reversed layoffs that gutted the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), reinstating hundreds of previously terminated researchers and staff (AP). In a dramatic turnaround, the Department of Health and Human Services rescinded reduction-in-force notices for NIOSH employees, restoring their positions after widespread criticism over the loss of critical workplace safety and health expertise.
NIOSH, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, initially faced the loss of 90% of staff slated for termination by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), then led by Elon Musk. The reversal follows pressure from lawmakers, labor unions, and public health advocates who warned that dismantling NIOSH would undermine protections for workers and delay essential research.
Dr. John Howard, who has served multiple terms as director, remained at the helm for much of the upheaval. Under his leadership, NIOSH has historically focused on preventing occupational injuries and illnesses, from respiratory hazards to chronic disease surveillance.
Dr. Howard recently published a commentary in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine highlighting the potential for the Total Worker Approach (TWA) in preventing and managing chronic disease. The commentary’s abstract states: A comprehensive strategy to eliminate the root causes of chronic diseases in America should include not only those causes arising from lifestyle influences beginning in childhood but also those diseases that are caused by workplace hazards or are made worse by workplace conditions.TWA is a concept that would advance preventive practices that benefit both children and adults in school settings.
