Healthy Schools, Healthy Students, Healthy Staff

The Healthy School Facility Environments web site was developed for parents, students, school staff, administrators, architects, engineers and contractors.  It contains important information about preventing, identifying and controlling health and safety hazards in school buildings.

With more than 1.4 million children and 200,000 staff spending many hours a day in New Jersey 's 3,600 public and private school facilities, the school environment is of great importance. A healthy school can even help create a positive learning environment. Research suggests that reducing contaminant levels in schools may improve student test scores, concentration and attendance, as well as staff performance and sick leave rates. These elements combine to support a school’s core mission -- educating children.

In New Jersey, six state and two federal government agencies share responsibility for healthy schools.  There are also many community, environmental, and labor organizations working for healthy schools. This web site is the result of a cooperative effort among state government agencies and advocacy groups.

Each of the participating state agencies and advocacy groups is described on these web pages, their responsibilities highlighted and their resources linked.  Key phone contact numbers are also provided for reporting school environmental health and safety concerns.