EPA Pushing Improved Air Quality in Schools

By Joetta L. Sack

Mesa, Ariz.

The fake-stucco facade and the outline of Guerrero Elementary School here give away its beginnings as a chain grocery store. Today, it houses model programs to help educate the community's large populations of homeless and migrant children.

But it's what can't be seen that has earned this rather unorthodox school accolades from a federal agency. Guerrero Elementary has been cited as a model for meeting new voluntary air-quality guidelines for schools that were set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this year.

Poor air quality in school facilities is a growing problem that is usually overlooked, EPA officials say, but that can have serious ramifications for the health...