Syracuse City Schools have begun an effort to install nearly 2,500 air filtration systems in classrooms throughout the district. The district hired Pulaski-based HealthWay to construct their patented systems so students can return to school safely October 5th.
Superintendent Jaime Alicea says it’s an important step toward in-person learning.
“Every classroom is going to have one of these units. We have about 1,200 classrooms in the district, and we want to make sure we have 2 units in every classroom,” he said. “We will look at other areas around the buildings but we are giving the priority first to the classrooms.”
HealthWay’s Filtration Systems have been tested to catch particles that are ten times smaller than those containing COVID-19. President Vinny Lobdell explained that despite one unit’s capabilities, installing two units is better in a couple of ways.
“These systems give you the ability to recirculate the air at a lower noise level instead of having one system in there that is blowing air and creating a larger problem in the learning environment,” he said. “They’ve got enough on their hands right now, so we want to provide a solution to helps them and protects them but also is productive to the learning environment.”
The school district spent nearly one million dollars on the systems and partitions between desks, but Alicea says the spending was worthwhile.
“We want to make sure that our parents know that we take the safety of our kids very seriously and that it’s important for the Board, important for me, for [the parents] to see what we’re doing to make sure kids are safe in school.”
The SCSD Board of Education voted Monday evening to begin in-person instruction on October 5th as planned.
Updated 9/29/2020 to reflect the SCSD Board vote to begin in-person learning.