Why Should You Care About Clean Air in Schools?
Fresh on the heels of the United Nations event on healthy indoor air, we’re seeing more awareness of the importance of clean airAir free of pollutants, including viruses, bacteria, and harmful particles. in closed spaces. One of the most important places where we can improve public health with clean indoor air is in school classrooms. We recently had the good fortune to speak with Liesl McConchie, a parent, teacher, and advocate of clean airAir free of pollutants, including viruses, bacteria, and harmful particles. in schools in California. Before COVID, her primary focus was researching and creating educational practices aligned with how kids’ brains actually work and sharing that info with the educational community. Since the start of the COVID pandemicA global outbreak of a disease. she’s become more interested in the effect of COVID on kids and preventing it through clean airAir free of pollutants, including viruses, bacteria, and harmful particles. policies with her organization, Clean AirAir free of pollutants, including viruses, bacteria, and harmful particles. Allies.
Liesl explained that the main reason to care about indoor air quality in schools is that schools are a primary place where COVID and other airborne pathogens are spread. Very few other environments pack so many people into such a small place for such a long period of time. Even the most crowded office rarely puts so many people so close together, and since children have smaller bodies they’re more affected by infections than adults are. School IAQ (indoor air quality) can affect children’s physical and mental health, attendance, learning, and resilience against climate-related events like wildfires, extreme heat, and floods. Breathing contaminated air can cause or worsen health conditions involving the nose, throat, and lungs.
Liesl had to become an advocate for her own children when she sent her kids to school with masks, and she found to her great alarm that her children were frequently getting bullied and had their masks ripped off their faces. She sent her children to school with air monitors, but the school forbade her children from using them. After she decided to teach her kids at home in periods when COVID infection rates became high, her children’s school principal told her that that was not acceptable. The principal told her that her kids would be expelled if she kept them home one more day. She’s been teaching her kids at home ever since. Liesl is very aware that she’s in a privileged position with knowing how to give her kids a good education at home. She’s hoping this will become less necessary with more advocacy.
For parents who are improving the quality of air in their own kids’ school, she recommends first talking to the teachers. They are frequently the most aware of the sickness and air quality situation at the schol. You may also find an ally with the schools facilities manager. She also recommends going to local school board meetings, as these will tell you what the current concerns of the school board are. These meetings may also let you meet other people with similar concerns and give you ideas on who else you can reach out to.
Liesl’s organization has created a terrific document explaining why you should care about indoor air quality in schools. The document contains links to other resources that can help parents and teachers convince decision-makers to improve their HVAC systems and monitor the air. Her organization is trying lots of ways to get more people engaged, including a youth video contest starting in November. They’re hoping to get some terrific videos that will help spark conversations with the kids and their teachers. They also think these videos can be used by other advocacy organizations like PHAN. We’re excited to see what videos come out of the project! We hope everyone interested in clean airAir free of pollutants, including viruses, bacteria, and harmful particles. in schools will check out the Clean AirAir free of pollutants, including viruses, bacteria, and harmful particles. Allies website and resources.
