San Francisco Unified School District officials are looking into spending $2.9 million on portable air purifiers to combat poor air quality from wildfires, district officials said on Monday.
Most classrooms rely on open windows to prevent the spread of COVID-19 – a main concern as in-person learning resumed just last week – but unhealthy air is making that difficult.
The district's current guidelines call for all school sites to have an operable window, a portable air purifier, or a mechanical ventilation system to ensure air flow.
"We really focused over the summer on getting our classrooms ready for the return fully in-person for all 50,000 of our students," said SFUSD Deputy Superintendent of Strategic Partnerships and Communications Gentle Blythe. "What our focus was then was really all of the COVID-19 prevention measures."
District staff have been examining ventilation systems inside classrooms since the start of the year, as some elementary schools reopened for in-person learning in April, and throughout the summer.
With the nearly $3 million, officials expect to be able to purchase some 3,700 air purifiers that meet their specifications.
The purchase of the extra air cleaners will first need to be approved by the San Francisco Board of Education. Once approved, district officials plan to distribute them as soon as possible, on a rolling basis.
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