Schools as environmental health governance actors?

In this presentation we share findings from our ongoing community participatory research project examining pK-12 Covid-19 governance and the layered constructions of student “well-being” at two schools located in the San Gabriel Valley. While the pandemic immediately forced educators into remote teaching platforms, it has also highlighted ways schools are woven into the fabric of neighborhood life as they offer wrap-around services responding to: food insecurity (distributing meals to students and families); technological disparities; social and emotional health; and rapidly-changing public health information. As schools redefine the cared-for student, we discuss how they are also emergent environmental health governance actors.