CASH Maintenance Network: New Healthy Schools Resource
Healthy Schools: Cleaning, Disinfecting, Healthy Air Quality, Scheduling and Social Distancing
A Resource for School Facility and Maintenance Departments
COVID-19 has presented significant challenges as education and state leaders contemplate re-opening schools in a way that ensures they are clean, safe and healthy. The CASH Maintenance Network (CMN), as part of the Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH), has developed the Healthy Schools: Cleaning, Disinfecting, Healthy Air Quality, Scheduling and Social Distancing Guidebook to provide K-12 school maintenance and facility departments with guidance, Best Management Practices (BMPs), and key resources.
The “Healthy Schools Guidebook” includes information on how to keep students and staff safe, cleaning and disinfecting, ensuring healthy indoor air quality, social distancing and scheduling, and managing fiscal impact. The Guidebook was developed by practitioners from school maintenance departments, school facility directors, county offices of education, and private industry, and is intended as a practical guide. The CMN would like to thank them for their contributions to this project.
The Guidebook is part of CMN’s larger effort to develop key resources for school maintenance and facility professionals as state requirements and compliance become more complex. These resources include: 1) the original CASH Facility Inspection Tool (FIT) Guidebook developed in 2007, and updated in 2017, in response to the Williams Lawsuit and to reflect the new requirements of the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), and now; 2) the Healthy Schools: Cleaning, Disinfecting, Healthy Air Quality, Scheduling and Social Distancing guidebook to provide guidance on re-opening and maintaining schools in the COVID-19 era.
More broadly, this Guidebook can be used as a resource to create and maintain healthy learning environments. The CMN will continue to follow the most recent developments related to creating and maintaining healthy school environments and keep our members updated. CMN will be offering Guidebook training opportunities in the coming weeks and months.
The CASH Maintenance Network (CMN) is part of the Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH), the premier school facilities and maintenance organization in California. The CMN focuses exclusively on school maintenance issues to assist K-12 districts in providing learning environments that are clean, safe and functional. The CMN brings together experts from throughout the school industry to provide best practices so students have learning environments that support academic achievement.