Ten actions for clean air where children learn

1Bring quiet, classroom-sized air cleaners into classrooms, starting where the need is greatest

Unobtrusive HEPA units, sized to the room and quiet enough to run all day. About $1,000 per classroom, a 10 to 20 year life, and roughly $5 to $10 per student per year including filters and labor.

Most districts phase them in. Weigh together:

• Outdoor air: nearness to highways, bus depots, ports and industry; local PM2.5 and how often bad-air days occur
• Student health: asthma rates and other indicators
• Buildings: age, condition, and whether there is mechanical ventilation
• Long-term plans: where units fill a gap before major HVAC work, or complement upgrades already planned

2Get full value from the HVAC you already have

Stuck dampers, disabled controls and fans set to cycle off mean many classrooms get less fresh air than their systems were built to deliver. A system check finds these problems, and an engineer can confirm which systems take MERV-13 filters. Run fresh air at design levels whenever students are in, starting before they arrive, and retest on a schedule.

3Cut pollution at the school gate

Children also breathe outdoor air at drop-off, at recess and on the bus. Options vary in cost and complexity:

• Enforce no-idling rules for buses, delivery trucks and parent cars
• Put the first electric buses on routes serving the most-exposed schools
• Site new schools away from highways and freight corridors, with strong filtration where a site can’t move

4Put a monitor in every classroom and publish the readings

Monitors show which rooms need attention, catch units that have been switched off, and let parents see their child’s classroom air, which helps keep a program funded after the people who started it move on.

They cost $150 to $350 each. Units that measure PM2.5 and CO₂, with data the district can export and own, cover the essentials.

5Connect every reading to a response

Readings only help if someone acts on them. Set action levels and decide in advance who is notified, who fixes it, and by when. Tracking whether devices are running also builds a record to rank repair and capital requests and show leadership regular progress.

6Write the bad-air-day plan before you need it

Smoke days and outbreaks come with little warning. Decide ahead of time:

• Each building’s HVAC settings for smoke days (usually less outdoor air and the best filters the system can take)
• The air quality levels at which recess and PE move indoors
• Messages to families
• When classroom units run on high, accepting more noise for a few days

Schools with clean air in every room can also serve as clean-air centers for the neighborhood on weekends and during breaks.

7Adopt a written clean-air standard for every classroom

A written standard gives everyone the same target, and outlasts changes in leadership and budgets. Adopt it as school or network board policy, ideally with a matching city council resolution, with targets for both the equipment and the air: delivered clean air, indoor PM2.5 and a CO₂ action level.

See the recommended targets

8Make the standard binding on everything you buy and build

Written into purchasing and building rules, the standard applies to every new unit and project without a fresh decision. The Model RFP we developed with the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council turns the targets into bid language a district can issue largely as written. It scores bids on independently tested clean air delivery rather than manufacturer claims, and requires UL 507 safety listing.

The same targets can go into design standards for new construction, major renovations and HVAC replacements.

9Name an owner and fund maintenance in the operating budget

Many pandemic-era programs stalled after the purchase: one-time money, no maintenance budget, unchanged filters, units switched off. Programs that last tend to have:

• One person in facilities accountable for keeping units running
• Filter replacement in the annual budget: about $75 to $150 in parts and $25 to $100 in labor per classroom each time
• The work in custodial job descriptions and, where relevant, labor agreements
• A simple explanation for teachers of what the unit does and why it should stay on

10Pay for it from durable sources

Clean air lasts when it is paid for like other building systems, not with one-time grants. Equipment that lasts 10 to 20 years fits capital plans and facilities bonds. Cities can share costs through health budgets, state school facilities funds can help where allowed, and buying with neighboring districts or through cooperative contracts can lower prices. Philanthropy helps most as a first investment, or a match that brings in public money.