Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) 

Mission Statement

Good indoor air quality is an important component of a healthy indoor environment and is necessary for schools to reach their primary goal of educating students.

Katy Independent School District is committed to high standards with regards to Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). A healthy indoor environment contributes to student learning and high performance of teachers and staff.

The Environmental Department has implemented and adapted the EPA’s Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools program to assist the district with maintaining this goal. This program is sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers, Association of School Business Officials, Council for American Private Education, National Education Association, National Parent Teachers Association, and American Lung Association.

Tools for Schools

Tools for Schools takes a common sense approach towards improving indoor air quality through outreach, education and occupant participation. As part of the program, walk-through inspections are conducted at least bi-yearly at each campus, during which temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone and particulates are measured. Other environmental conditions such as light, noise, sanitation, drinking water and fire protection, which also affect health and safety, are addressed through monitoring and proper maintenance.

Taking a proactive approach to improving indoor air quality results in several benefits including:

• Improvement in student, teacher and staff comfort levels
• A reduction in indoor air quality complaints
• A decrease in absenteeism
• Reduction in clinic visits for asthma and asthma treatments
• Reduction in costs to districts for consultants and remediation projects.

You can find additional information about Tools for Schools at www.epa.gov/iaq/schools.

Award-winning Program

Katy ISD is proud to have a nationally-recognized Indoor Air Quality program. We have won several awards from the EPA for our successful implementation of the Tools for Schools program, including the IAQ TfS Great Start Award (2003), National Leadership Award (2004), National Excellence Award (2005), and the National Model of Sustained Excellence Award (2006). To top it off, KISD was awarded the National Special Achievement Award in 2007, for which we were nominated to and have been serving as Faculty Mentors for the program during the 2010 and 2011 EPA IAQ Symposia and mentoring other school districts year-round.