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Update on improvements to school ventilation systems

Wed, 2 Feb, 2022

News item: Update on improvements to school ventilation systems

At yesterday’s public Board meeting, the Board of Trustees approved access to surplus funds to allow the Division to purchase a portable HEPA filtration system for every Division classroom. This initiative is part of our Division’s larger review of ventilation across all of our sites. 

The request to access Division surplus funds to support this initiative has been shared with the Minister of Education for approval. We will provide an update to families once this request has been reviewed. 

Protecting students and staff

The health and safety of our students and staff is a priority for our Division. We continue to take steps to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission for students and staff. Measures include good hand hygiene, enhanced cleaning practices, the mandatory use of masks and well-maintained ventilation systems. 

School ventilation systems and maintenance

We recognize that ventilation is an important part of keeping staff and students safe. 

We also have a number of safety and maintenance processes in place for our ventilation systems. These include:

  • running ventilation systems for an extra two hours before and after regular operating times; this allows for a two-hour building flush before and after staff and students are in the building
  • setting ventilation systems for maximum fresh air intake  
  • installing the most efficient filter possible in each ventilation system
  • scheduling frequent filter changes and annual system inspections
  • installing the highest quality filter possible for each system 

Our Division will continue to review the procurement and installation of minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) 13 filters for school systems that can be retrofitted. We expect to provide an update on this work in the coming weeks. 

More information

Updated information will be provided to families once the request to the Minister of Education has been reviewed. 

Read a letter for families from Superintendent Darrel Robertson.