This fall, athletic directors, coaches, and administrators across the Golden State need to be prepared for the rollout of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Extreme Heat and Air Quality Policy. The new regulations apply to all CIF member schools and do require changes to the way most athletic programs assess heat stress and athlete wellness.
Moving forward, we’ll…
- Break down the heat stress requirements for California schools
- Explain the air quality regulations within the CIF mandate
- Share the blueprint for student-athlete heat stress monitoring that we developed in Florida
How to comply with the new CIF heat stress (WBGT) requirements
Step 1: Learn your region category
The CIF mandate recognizes three categories of region, all of which are present in California, due to its incredible environmental diversity. Students will experience ambient heat differently depending on other factors within your region – that’s why temperature alone isn’t sufficient for making safety decisions.
You can use the map below (or this list, if you prefer) to identify your school’s category:
Source: CIF Extreme Heat & Air Quality Policy
Step 2: Create a WBGT reading with onsite data
Now that you know your region category, the next step to compliance is creating a wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) reading for your school. Wet bulb globe temperatures provide a more accurate understanding of how athletes experience heat, even as they hydrate and sweat.
To comply with CIF requirements, the absolute minimum you can do is use the “Wet Bulb Globe Temperature” filter on the National Weather Service’s national forecast map. With that said, there are several compelling reasons why relying on the NWS is far from ideal.
Finding the information you need to make a decision on the NWS map requires multiple clicks, dropdown menu navigation, scrolling and zooming a map, selecting your location, waiting for text boxes to load; it’s not designed for this. Plus, the NWS needs to provide high-level information for the whole country, and you need very specific information about your school or district.
A handheld heat stress tracker (such as a Kestrel) can be used, but those can also keep athletes off the field when it’s totally unnecessary, as they’re known to report incorrectly high temperatures in the sunlight (where you need to take readings to calculate WBGT).
For those reasons, the best way to get a WBGT reading is using an onsite weather station. When you’ve got your own weather station on campus, you know exactly what conditions are like for your student-athletes at any given moment. You’re not approximating based on data from a station somewhere else in the community or relying on staff to make important safety decisions interpreting a tiny LED screen; you’re gathering a steady flow of real-time authentic weather information that you can trust when it comes time to make a decision around sports, dismissal, and beyond.
Plus, the software for your weather station can automate WBGT calculation for you, which means no math and no uncertainty. Administrators, coaches, or athletic directors can simply open the browser-based app, check their current WBGT, and proceed to…
Step 3: Apply the guidance based on your region category
Once you know your region category and wet bulb globe temperature, the CIF's guidelines are fairly specific about how you should proceed. You can use the table below as a reference or click here for a printable version that you can post or circulate as you roll out your new policy.
What are the new CIF air quality monitoring guidelines?
While awareness of air pollution has always been high in California, the new CIF guidelines are specifically a response to the growing frequency of major wildfires. The air quality requirements aren't quite as specific or firm as the heat stress guidelines and instead make recommendations that administrators, coaches, and athletic directors should strongly consider as they make situational decisions around student health and safety.
Step 1: Learn how AQI correlates to health risks
Air Quality Index (AQI) is a way of quantifying air quality by measuring the concentrations of tiny particles of pollution. There's a great deep dive into this on our sister site, Davis Instruments.
When the AQI is low, that means the air is clear and relatively free from dust, dirt, smoke, and so on. As the AQI increases, it becomes increasingly difficult to breathe, especially for people with chronic respiratory conditions like asthma. When the AQI gets high enough, it's downright unsafe for people do be in that environment.
Step 2: Monitor on-site air quality
In addition to compliance with any local air quality alerts issued by government agencies, the CIF recommends that athletic health care providers actively track AQI to ensure student-athletes are safe. The guidance establishes the airnow.gov application as the least you can do, but it suffers from many of the same issues we mentioned about the NWS WBGT map, and there are many gaps in coverage.
There are two good ways that schools and districts can create their own reliable AQI solution:
- Getting an air quality feed
Remember that weather software that's automatically calculating WBGT readings for you? In many situations, you can add an air quality data feed to provide you with local information throughout the day. - Installing air quality monitors:
If you want to make decisions based on precise hyperlocal data, the best way to achieve that is it install an air quality sensor at your playing or practice field. That device can provide you with real-time AQI ratings based on the exact conditions players are experiencing.
Step 3: Protect at-risk athletes at 100
According to CIF guidance, "Exposure to air should be managed more carefully for students with pre-existing lung or heart conditions. When the AQI rises above 100, schools should consider moving such athletes at risk from practice or competition."
Notice how the wording of that guidance strongly suggests that air quality readings should be checked throughout a day or event where air quality could be a concern. A good compliance and safety solution allows for easy validation and re-checking at any time.
Step 4: Reschedule or move indoors at 150
Per the guidance: "At AQI levels above 150, serious consideration should be given to rescheduling the activity or moving it indoors if possible. Prologued exposure and heavy exertion should be avoided."
Backing your weather policy with communication
As during any transitional period, communication will be key during the rollout of these new regulations.
Schools and districts need to communicate with athletic directors and coaches to clarify expectations and provide useful tools. Coaches and ADs need to be able to communicate amongst themselves rapidly, with a shared understanding of the situation, to make timely decisions. Teachers need to know whether to send athletes to practice or put them on the bus. And, above all else, parents need to know what their kids are doing and feel sure that they are safe.
As you consider how your team is going to address CIF compliance, be sure that you're thinking about the people and not just the numbers. You need a heat stress and air quality solution that's going to eliminate the guesswork from decision-making and allow you to communicate those decisions as quickly as possible throughout your vast network of stakeholders and community members.
Case study: School District of Palm Beach County, Florida
In 2021, Florida's Zachary Martin Act went into law, necessitating heat stress monitoring for student-athletes during practices and games. Those regulations are strikingly similar to the new CIF regulations, and our AEM team has already helped the tenth largest school district in the nation build a complete heat stress and weather safety solution.
You can download the case study below or hear from their team firsthand here.
Ready to meet your CIF mandate compliance partner?
Between our track record of success in Florida and the fact that our weather stations are manufactured in Hayward, California, we feel like we're the perfect team to help California schools, districts, athletic directors, and coaches facilitate a smooth transition into a new era of increased student safety. If you're ready to protect students and reputations, it's time to sit down for a chat.
