Energy Association of Iowa Schools (EAIS) is thrilled to announce that we have been awarded funding through the Iowa Cancer Consortium (ICC) to help Iowa school districts with radon testing in 2016-2017.
Did you know that radon is the leading environmental cause of lung cancer? We are doing all we can to help Iowa school districts keep students, staff and communities as safe as possible by testing for, and mitigating, radon. Our ICC funds have been organized into matching grants for rural school districts to participate in the School Radon Training & Support Program (SRTSS) and learn to test their buildings for radon.
There is enough funding for 18 school districts to receive $1000 each toward SRTSS and test kits. We have also set up a mitigation assistance fund of $4000 to be shared among participants as needed.
Grant recipients will be required to send a School Radon Team, made up of a facility manager and a superintendent/district spokesperson, to one Training Workshop before testing a minimum of one building and receiving year-long coaching from SRTSS. Workshop dates are October 26 (at Southwestern Community College in Creston), November 9 (at Great Prairie AEA in Ottumwa), or November 10, 2016 (At Prairie Lakes AEA in Pochahontas). Year 1 schools are required to attend the full day from 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Year 2 schools are required to attend a half-day from 12 – 2:30 p.m.
Schools who participated in the 2015-2016 pilot year SRTSS will have priority status for the grants in order to support and sustain their Year 2 testing efforts. However there will be room for several new school district participants. Contact EAIS executive director, Julie Weisshaar, for more information.
This program is made possible by the Iowa Cancer Consortium and the Iowa Department of Public Health.