The new school year of 23-24 students and staff walked into the classrooms and saw air purifiers. The white, tall, cylinders showed up over the summer in every class and open space in the TEC campus. The students asked the teachers where they had come from and teachers didn’t really know.
We learned that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has something called the Clean Air for Schools program. CDPHE worked with Carrier West. According to the website, it was, “to provide free high-efficiency particulate air filter portable air cleaners (HEPA PACs) and associated supplies to K-12 schools and licensed early childhood education (ECE) providers.”
Public health experts say the goal is to provide cleaner indoor air and to prevent the flu and COVID-19, “and RSV, as well as other pollutants and pathogens that contribute to asthma, allergies, and other chronic respiratory illnesses.”
It is also happening through a partnership with the University of Colorado Boulder. Here is a link to the air monitoring program at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Clean Air for Schools webpage.
Back at EHS, a freshman was wondering if they are effective, “I think it’s dumb to use them because it doesn’t help with the air. I don’t think they’re helping with the air quality and preventing students and staff with not getting sick,” said Zoie Butler.
One important part of the filters is the fact that students know we are in a budget crunch and hoped the district didn’t have to pay, “I don’t think they help, I think someone had donated them because the school doesn’t have that much money. I think the school only accepted them because they didn’t want to be rude and say no,” said Emily Griess Moreno.
Some teachers really like the idea of cleaning the air in classrooms, “I think it’s cool, it’s cooler that was getting fresher air, and the design of the air purifiers is cool, I don’t think that’s the reason the school doesn’t have money this year, I think it only helps with the air quality and in the case that that’s the reason we don’t have money and we bought them then he’d rather spend money on paper then the air purifiers because they’re supposed to help with preventing Covid-19 and the Flu and they’re not,” said Sean Stetler.
“I don’t think they’re helping the air but in the office, I noticed a difference, sometimes odors from outside get in and the air purifier in the office helps get rid of the smells. If they weren’t donated I don’t think we would buy them and we would buy other things that the school needed. We didn’t have enough to be in every classroom so we got as many as we could but every school in the district has them and I think we have the most out of the schools,” said principal Ryan West.
Several students and staff have been out sick, so some wonder if they help, “I don’t think they’re helping because the 3rd or 4th week of school a lot of students and staff got sick. I think the air got worse just because of the fact a lot of people had gotten sick. I think every teacher that has the air purifiers should use them just so it would maybe help a bit more with illnesses,” said Cody Boucher.
