Environmental Preparedness for K-12 Administrators

As summer fades and September settles in, K-12 administrators are finding themselves in the familiar hustle and bustle of a new school year. Lesson plans are in place, bus routes have been finalized, and the homecoming game is just a few short weeks away. While the school year brings new opportunities for educators to shape the path of our future leaders, it also brings a question not typically associated with education: Is my school prepared for an environmental emergency?

Environmental preparedness is a topic often associated with industry and manufacturing operations. Yet ask any school superintendent, and you’ll quickly realize how much environmental planning goes into running a successful school district. Schools are not immune from environmental concerns, and K-12 administrators must ensure they are prepared to protect our most vulnerable population.

K-12 school districts regularly find themselves managing small wastewater and drinking water facilities, maintaining emergency generators, conducting mold and asbestos testing and inspections, and ensuring that chemicals and maintenance materials have permits and are properly stored to prevent releases to the environment. While these items may be considered standard practice for school districts, each task brings about state and federal environmental permitting obligations, which trigger additional recordkeeping and reporting requirements. It is easy to lose sight of these environmental obligations while focusing on your primary role of educating, but these are environmental matters that can bring unnecessary compliance concerns for state and federal regulators. Having a plan in place to address these matters can avoid future regulatory headaches.

While certain environmental matters are standard practice for school districts, other matters may not be readily considered. Does your school district have a plan in place for responding to community shelter-in-place orders related to an environmental emergency? What about flooding and a return-to-school protocol? Have you considered how you will advise your teachers and students when drinking water or on the air quality advisories that are issued? Each of these questions requires prior planning to ensure a smooth response when these issues arise. The community impacts of environmental emergencies are becoming increasingly prevalent across the country, so planning for how you will protect your students and staff when these events arise is critical.

Steptoe & Johnson’s K-12 team is ready to assist your district with these key environmental matters. Join Marissa Nortz and Benchmark Safety, Health, & Environmental Services’ John Keeling for a webinar covering these matters and more at noon on September 17, 2026. This webinar will explore:

• K-12 environmental permitting obligations
• State and federal K-12 environmental testing and inspection requirements
• Emergency preparedness and the preparation of standard operating procedures

Please use the link below to register.

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/y9wwm82