CONNECTICUT FOUNDATION FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE SCHOOLS

ConnFESS Mission Statement

The mission of the Connecticut Foundation for Environmentally Safe Schools (ConnFESS) is to promote policies, programs, and resources that protect school occupants from environmental health hazards such as mold, lead, pesticides, radon and asbestos. Our founding members were parents, educators, health professionals and environmentalists who had been personally and professionally impacted by sick schools. As an ad hoc political action group called "The Canary Committee", they were instrumental in getting An Act Concerning Indoor Air Quality In Schools signed into state law in July 2003. The Canary Committee was renamed the Connecticut Foundation of Environmentally Safe School in January 2004.

ConnFESS has become the voice for the growing number of students and school employees suffering short and long term illnesses due to exposure to polluted air in a school. Some of these ailments included chronic sinusitis, rashes, eczema, extreme fatigue, dizziness, vertigo, muscle pain, anaphylactic shock, asthma and hypersensitivity pneumonitis. We also represent an expanding network of concerned citizens committed to improving how our schools are sited, designed, built, maintained and renovated. It is our hope that in the future all school built in Connecticut will be Healthy, High Performance Schools.