AFSZ, A Site-Specific Program

Tailored guidance and support is offered to those schools that have identified specific environmental problems and are motivated to solve them.

Accentuating the Positive: We work with the school parents association and local community groups to make improvements, i.e., adding street trees, creating gardening space.

Eliminating the Negative: We work with the Parents Association to reduce dangerous and unhealthy conditions, i.e., unsafe traffic patterns, changing traffic flow, adding crossing stripes or street signs.

Every AFSZ school is supported with a basic set of services:

Training

We conduct environmental health workshops with parents, teachers and other school staff, raising awareness and helping them identify health and safety problems specific to the school. Our work with children is limited to participatory games at health fairs, special events usch as drama presentations and occasional classroom lessons.

Community Health Education

We work with police precincts and neighborhood groups to raise environmental health awareness through outreach and intervention activities in school zones.

Environmental Assessment

We work with the school and custodial staff to assess the indoor and outdoor environmental conditions of the school site. Air quality testing has been done with the Queens College CBNS (AirLab/criteria pollutants) and with Hunter College (Aethalometerand MaGee SidePak/elemental carbon and PM2.5). School walk-arounds are likely to find pests, dust and mold as a result of crowded conditions in old NYC school buildings. Alrhough green cleaning products are now mandated for all NYC schools, neither green cleaning products or practices are not universal; use of chemicals for maintenance and chemicals remains a problem.

Every AFSZ school is designated with AFSZ street signage:

At the AFSZ, our #1 core program target is unnecessary engine idling near schools. As such, we educate and train parents, school staff and community groups to create and maintain safe, healthy school zones, which are designated with our red-and-white metal 18"x12" AFSZ/No Idling signs available in English and Spanish.

NYC law prohibits non-emergency idling for more than 3 minutes. New York State law prohibits all school bus idling in school zones. The top NYC Dept of Transportation fine for repeat offenders is $1000.

It is the custodian's job to install the outdoor AFSZ street signage. Walk around the school grounds with the custodian to determine the best location(s) for your signs. Think about the pick up and drop off points for your school. The signas can be posted anywhere on the school property - but not on the DOT green metal street poles. There is generally a two to four sign allowance for English; one to two in Spanish.