Five years into work to improve and study indoor air quality, Boulder Valley is seeing improvements and was in a better position to respond to the pandemic.

The school board heard an update on the district’s indoor air quality work at a Tuesday work session. Boulder Valley started working with the University of Tulsa’s indoor air quality program in 2016, following air quality concerns at Boulder’s Casey Middle School.

That work, which also involved help from the University of Colorado Boulder, includes collecting indoor air quality data from schools before and after renovations were made through 2014’s $576.5 million bond issue for capital construction projects. The district is still collecting post-renovation data.

Results so far include a 44% improvement in carbon dioxide levels, which the district uses as a way to measure ventilation, and a 12% increase in classrooms with “acceptable” room temperatures. About 94% of sampled classrooms fell in the acceptable temperature range. Cleaning effectiveness of desktops also improved, and schools now are using “green” cleaning products.

The district is continuing to collect information on school absenteeism and symptoms to look at the impact of renovations on student and teacher health, but that data isn’t yet available, officials said.

An added benefit of the air quality work, district officials said, was it put the district in a good position to respond to the pandemic. Along with the ventilation system improvements, the district is installing carbon dioxide monitors in every classroom so adjustments can be made as needed.

“This work has been extremely important,” said Rob Price, Boulder Valley’s assistant superintendent of operations. “We set ourselves up for success not even knowing we were doing that.”

In response to a question about the district’s response to the omicron variant, Price said the district is “doing everything we possibly can from the ventilation perspective.” Along with ventilation system improvements, the district purchased classroom air purifiers.

He added the district is working with Boulder County Public Health to monitor the outdoor air quality at schools in the areas affected by the recent Marshall Fire.

The district plans to continue air quality education efforts, system adjustments and data collection this school year, with a final indoor air quality report planned in 2023.

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Originally Appeared Here