Public board wins praise for online air reports

Ottawa parents will soon be able to check school board websites to find out about the ventilation at their child's school.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board plans to do more than the ventilation checklist required by the province's Ministry of Education and post detailed information about each school, according to a staff report to be discussed at a meeting Tuesday.

David Elfstrom, an Ontario environmental engineer who has been a key expert in providing advice about school ventilation, applauded the move.

“Bravo OCDSB for continuing to go above the minimum requirements for school ventilation and communicating it,” he posted.

The ministry provided boards with a template and requires them to post ventilation information starting no later than Sept. 3.

However, the OCDSB plans to provide more details, which could include improvements planned at each school and targets for ventilation rates.

The board expects to begin its reporting this week.

As two million Ontario elementary and secondary students return to school this fall, adequate ventilation and air quality are key to protecting them from COVID -19.

The virus can spread through the air like cigarette smoke, especially in confined, crowded, poorly ventilated spaces.

Both the federal and provincial governments have given grants to schools over the last year to improve HVAC systems, buy higher-quality filters and change them more frequently, and purchase portable air cleaners, among other things.

Work is being done over the summer using grants from a federal safe-schools fund that were awarded last spring, but all the projects won't be complete when schools reopen.

For example, at the Ottawa-Carleton board, “many projects will continue through the fall 2021 and are anticipated to be completed by January 2022,” the report said.

At the Ottawa Catholic School Board, a spokesperson said all major ventilation projects are expected to be complete by Sept. 7.

Earlier this month, the Ontario Ministry of Education announced it would pay for portable HEPA air filters in all classrooms and other learning areas at schools that don't have mechanical ventilation, as well as in kindergarten classrooms at all schools. (Kindergarten students are not required by the province to wear masks at school.)

The ministry has asked boards to have the HEPA units in place before school starts. The filters remove harmful particles from the air.

Some older schools in the province lack mechanical systems that remove stale air from rooms and replace it with outdoor air. Those schools rely on windows and natural air flow.

Boards began purchasing HEPA filters last year, using federal and provincial government grants and in some cases their own reserve funds. There was no consistency across the province about how many filter units were required or where they were placed. The Toronto English boards, for example, decided to put filters in every classroom.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board has already placed HEPA units in special-education classrooms, where handwashing, mask wearing and distancing can be difficult; in kindergarten classrooms; and in isolation rooms for children who develop COVID-19 symptoms at school.

The latest funding from the province for HEPA filters means the OCDSB will receive another 780 units, which are expected to arrive from the Ministry of Education in the first week of September, according to the staff report. School starts Sept. 9.

The Ottawa board will also have an extra 200 HEPA units on hand that can be quickly deployed in areas that might need them, during an outbreak or if a school HVAC system fails, the report said.

An Aug. 4 memo from the ministry says boards should prioritize projects so schools meet the minimum ventilation standards set by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers.

That was one of the recommendations in the school-reopening report from the province's COVID-19 science advisory table.

The memo also uses tougher language than the guidance on ventilation the ministry sent to school boards a year ago, which included tips for best practices they could consider.

The latest memo says school boards are required to inspect all ventilation systems to make sure they're in good working order before school starts and are expected to adopt improvements.