The Los Angeles School Board is restricting the district's ability to build schools near freeways and other sources of air pollution. The resolution adopted by the board calls for the school system to study airborne pollutants up to half a mile from a potential site, rather than the current quarter mile requirement. It also seeks air-quality health-risk assessments for all schools, including charter schools, although officials said it is unclear whether they could force the independently run schools to do so.
Click here to read The Los Angeles Times article.
EARLIER: The Los Angeles school district is beginning to explore policies that would preclude schools from being built close to freeways and would reduce air pollution at the dozens of campuses that already are situated near major roadways. (Los Angeles Times)
Despite a state law that seeks to prevent schools from being built near freeways and mounting evidence that road pollutants harm children's lungs, the Los Angeles Unified School District is in the process of adding seven new schools to the more than 70 already situated near highways. Last year, more than 60,000 L.A. Unified students attended school within 500 feet of a freeway, records show. (Los Angeles Times)
