130 school districts apply for ventilation upgrades
$150M on the line for improvements
A new grant program has demonstrated widespread demand for funding to improve air quality in Connecticut schools, as experts continue to cite ventilation as a key tool in reducing the spread of COVID-19 and other airborne illnesses.
According to the state’s Department of Administrative Services, Connecticut school districts submitted 130 applications for a new $150 million school ventilation grant program, estab
lished earlier this year to finance air quality projects. Though it’s unclear how many grants the state will ultimately distribute, it’s likely that only a fraction of the applicants will ultimately receive funding.
A DAS spokesperson said Wednesday he could not provide a full list of applicants to the grant program nor the total value of the requests. The agency will have more information “in late February or March,” after reviewing all applicants, he said.
An informal CT Insider survey of Connecticut school districts this summer found that few had taken major steps to improve ventilation since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite research showing the importance of air filtration in combating the disease. Those findings were consistent with a 2021 review by the State Department of Education, which revealed that only 40 percent of school facilities for which responses were submitted had central air conditioning for their entire building and only 53 percent had HVAC or high efficiency boilers no older than their expected useful life.
The new grant program, established earlier this year, is designed to address these deficiencies by subsidizing local efforts to replace or upgrade boilers, install air conditioning or HVAC systems or otherwise bolster air quality. To receive a grant, school districts must match the funds offered by the state but are not permitted to use money from the federal American Rescue Plan to do so.
According to the state, the grant awards will be determined based on air quality at the school in question, the age of the equipment being replaced and other similar factors. The application process began in September, with a Dec. 1 deadline for all submissions.
Joe DeLong, executive director of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, said demand for ventilation projects likely extends even beyond the 130 applications.
“There’s probably more demand than has even been reflected because the timelines were a little short, and the inability to use the local ARPA funding as part of the match put constraints on some towns,” he said.
Still, DeLong said he viewed the process as a “success story” that legislators can build on during the upcoming legislative session, when lawmakers will decide whether to extend the program.
“There is significant need, it’s an important initiative, and I think this was a very, very positive first step,” he said.
After initially opposing initiatives to fund air quality projects in schools, Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration reversed course in the face of mounting press from legislators and local officials two years into the pandemic, authorizing the state to borrow $75 million toward the effort. Another $75 million from federal pandemic funds would also be directed towards air quality upgrades.
Even amid widespread interest in the program, some town officials have expressed confusion that the state plans to use COVID-relief funds to fund the effort but isn’t allowing local municipalities to do the same. Others say they’re being left out of the process because their towns can’t afford to pay for their half of a major air quality improvement project.
“Those towns are losing out on a significant amount of funding,” said Betsy Gara, the executive director of the Council of Small Towns, which lobbies for 118 municipalities in the state. “It warrants a modification to the school construction guidelines.”
Experts consider air circulation among the most important factors in reducing COVID-19 risk in schools, with one study earlier this year finding that efficient ventilation can reduce spread of the disease by more than 80 percent.