So what's the Buzz in Missouri?
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education was tasked with developing and providing guidelines for green cleaning in schools as a result of state legislature SB 1181. These "guidelines were to be developed after review and evaluation of existing research and are to be in place by February 24, 2009". A meeting was held November 10, 2008 to form a committee and formulate guidelines. After the meeting MOKIDS coalition posted an alert to our concerns. These first concerns seemed to have been averted or at least delayed but there was still a lot of work to go. The next meeting was scheduled for December 17, 2008 and began at 9:30 and ended at 4:30pm. See how Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE responded to the submission of medical input, information and documentation. View and analyze the problems that followed the entire process of the Missouri Green Cleaning Committee practices, procedures and recommendations through to the approval of the guidelines - January 15, 2008

The new Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Green Cleaning Guidelines are now posted on DESE's website.
Want a peak at some key issues that were discussed in the final meeting?
The Missouri Green Cleaning Committee December 17, 2008 meeting status is available now. Thanks to all that provided support by writing letters and keeping the spotlight on what has been going on.

Missouri Kids Health Coalition along with some of the committee members had some Concerns and Recommendations for the Green Cleaning Committee from the get-go. Green cleaning recommendations should be drawn from a thorough review of scientific and medical literature, a fair hand and the right priorities.

See What doctors, physician educators and professors had to say to the Green Cleaning Committee and their recommendations....
Disability advocates, nurses, Missouri citizens and a nation-wide community of concerned people from all over the U.S. sent letters as well. We are currently trying to get all the letters uploaded. Please check back daily to view additional letters and updates. Thanks for your interest!

View the Time Line of Events of the Green Cleaning Committee

Do you care about the environment in schools and how it affects the children?
You can write your own letter of support or you can click here to cut and paste our sample. It's not too late to send a letter for next year or to let DESE know you care about this issue!! Missouri's green cleaning guidelines will be revised every year. Each letter that government receives is said to equal at least 10 people - so every letter is significant. Please take a small moment (it just takes about 5 minutes) to join our efforts by sending your letter of support. Your letter can make a big difference.
Thanks for taking the time to read about these issues and for caring!!

Mo Kids Sponsored a Poll - What was the popular Opinion?
Here was the question:
Do you believe industry should be on state committees and have the power to vote in state policies that will influence where tax dollars will be spent and encourage the promotion and sometimes require the use of their own company's products. In this instance, we are asking in regard to public school purchasing decisions? 49 people responded to our poll - check out what the majority of the people said - see the poll results.

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