GILROY
– The Environmental Protection Agency recognized the school
district’s two-year effort to improve air quality inside classrooms
at the school board’s meeting last Thursday.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – The Environmental Protection Agency recognized the school district’s two-year effort to improve air quality inside classrooms at the school board’s meeting last Thursday.
One representative from both the EPA and the American Lung Association presented Gilroy Unified School District with the Great Start Award for improving indoor air quality by preventing mold, fungi, bacteria and poor ventilation. Led by Manager of Maintenance Operations Jeff Gopp, GUSD has increased awareness of indoor air quality issues and addressed problems by implementing the EPA’s Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools program.
“This is a voluntary program and … it’s rare to see a district take it on this way,” Tools for Schools Coordinator Shelly Rosenblum said as he presented Gopp with the award. “We look to you as a model for school districts in this area.”
Most of the district’s efforts to improve air quality involve preventative maintenance work, Gopp said.
“I’m trying to be proactive in this and catch everything before we have the problems,” he said.
As part of the proactive approach, problem classrooms were inspected with a carbon dioxide test to check that a minimum of 15 percent fresh air is being re-circulated by ventilation systems. During the summer months maintenance workers “super-clean” roofs, drains and gutters to prevent rainwater from pooling and providing a breeding ground for bacteria.
Gopp estimates that the number of leaks in the district has decreased by 75 percent since GUSD began the Tools for Schools program. Some of that improvement is the result of large-scale roofing projects, but much of it comes from identifying and responding to smaller leaks, he said.
Tools for Schools provides action kits to each school site with checklists to pinpoint potential problems. A coordinator is available at each school to report complaints.
The district began actively addressing air quality problems after receiving complaints from teachers who said they and their students were experiencing headaches, respiratory problems and asthmatic symptoms, Gilroy Teachers Association President Michelle Nelson said. The district also had no regular schedule for replacing air filters. Filters are now changed every 90 days.
“We’ve come a long way,” Nelson said. “The other positive result here is the teachers are not just complaining about it anymore. They can see that if they report it, something will happen, so everybody’s more aware that there’s a problem in the schools.”
