A Virtual Trade Show for These Challenging Times – Healthy Green Schools & Colleges

The Healthy Green Schools Track at ISSA Show North America Sessions Still Available to View

Every year at the ISSA Show North America, Healthy Green Schools & Colleges offers programming specifically for managers of educational facilities that tackles the latest in sustainability, health and cleaning at schools and universities. This annual event is organized and presented by our Steering Committee and a panel of experts in the field and is attended by a long list of familiar faces, including veteran facility managers at schools and universities across the nation, industry leaders committed to sustainability and health, and our friends at ISSA. What we love most is how the Healthy Green Schools Track always brings in new faces, too. We look forward to this annual opportunity to socialize and network with the industry and catch up with our Healthy Green Schools Track participants over lunches, seminars and dinners.

This year, the trade show looked very different. Like everything else these days, it was virtual. We were grateful to be able to continue to connect with other leaders in the field and talk about the key issues facing facility managers at schools and universities right now. Naturally, all of our conversations came back to the one topic on everyone’s mind: this pandemic. Our presenters covered the intersection of pandemic preparedness and green cleaning in a series of four panels. As we look back on the Green Healthy Schools Track at ISSA, we noticed a few big topics that kept coming up as common challenges for school facility managers in the 2020-21 school year. These topics include:

Staffing concerns. No matter what the situation at a school or university is right now—whether the school is fully open to students, remote, or hybrid—custodial departments are facing staffing issues like never before. Staff quarantines, unknown reopening plans, budget cuts and added frequencies all contribute to an HR situation that requires creative planning and flexibility. Steering Committee members shared their successes and challenges, with participant questions focused on staffing plans for the future.

Safer disinfection needs. As custodians are asked to disinfect more frequently with U.S. EPA List N products that are effective against coronavirus, concerns are growing about the adverse health and environmental effects of disinfectants. Our panelists discussed their experience in choosing safer disinfectants, tips for safer application, and together they unpacked our Guidelines for COVID-19 Cleaning and Disinfecting.

Supporting staff during these challenging times. The jobs of school custodians have taken on heightened importance, danger and scrutiny. Facility managers are tasked with the important job of building up their staff and providing a positive counterbalance to the mental health demands of the job during the pandemic. During each of our sessions, presenters and participants focused on creative and positive ways to support their staff.

These sessions are all still available to registered attendees until March 31, 2021. You may access these recorded sessions and watch them on your own time by registering through ISSA. Use the code GREENSCHOOLS for discounted registration. As a registered attendee, you may also access recordings for all of the education tracks at ISSA Show North America.