Reply to windows that won't open a metaphor what's wrong with MCPS?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My husband works at a big law office downtown in a high rise with windows that don’t open. That’s why they have ventilation systems. I’m confused why this is an issue.[/quote]
There are what are called "sick" buildings built with high energy efficiency in mind, but before air exchange was a standard part of it. I worry about people in those buildings. Outside of call centers and the like, office buildings don't have the sort of people density schools have.

On the other hand, there are some schools in a similar situation. I worked in one last year. The building I'm in this year (or will be in shortly, anyway!) is newer, and has an air exchange system they tell us works better with closed windows. Modern air exchange systems can swap air a few times an hour.[/quote]

am wondering if the complaining parents have an idea whether air exchange in their kids school is a problem or not.[/quote]
Unfortunately, air exchange isn't on the HVAC list: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/facilities/default.aspx?id=674571[/quote]

It looks like MCPS is following the guidelines with respect air changes per hour (ACH): [url]https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/facilities/default.aspx?id=674569[/url][/quote]

Such hygiene theater, such misguided priorities. This page is utterly depressing. Why is the top section on disinfection, which is fairly irrelevant to COVID? Because they spent money on "sanitizing machines" rather than opening the darned windows. The extent to which they've misallocated resources when it comes to covid mitigation is pretty ironic given all their usual rhetoric about "evidence based practices."

[/quote]

If they wanted to buy some machines (which we know they like to do) a better choice would have been CO2 monitors. There was an interesting piece on this in the Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-schools-have-been-open-for-months-heres-what-they-learned-11616345560

It's behind a paywall I think, so pasting they key bits here (including about Montgomery County VA's approach - I guess we moved to the wrong Montgomery County...):

Parents, cities and teachers in many places continue to wrangle over how to reopen their schools safely. Meanwhile, teachers and administrators whose buildings have been open for many months have come to some hard-earned conclusions about how to make it all work.

Some of what they learned is consistent with what many scientists have been touting—that masking, ventilation, distancing and regular testing when possible are effective ways to reduce transmission of Covid-19 in schools. Other once-lauded tactics, such as daily temperature checks and deep cleaning of surfaces, have become lower priorities.

They also have learned that teachers, not their students, are likely the primary transmitters of the virus in grade schools, that children are likely most at risk of infection during lunch time, and that tools such as portable air cleaners and carbon-dioxide monitors can help.

***

Early in the pandemic, both the CDC and the World Health Organization said the virus was mainly spread through droplets, but it is now clear that it is also spread through tiny virus-containing particles called aerosols that stay suspended in the air for some time. Removing such particles from the environment and bringing fresh air into a room of people is essential, scientists say.

The Montgomery County Public Schools district in Virginia, which returned to full in-person schooling earlier this month, has poured more than $750,000 into cleaning the air in its schools, said Tommy Kranz, assistant superintendent of operations and finance. Along with opening windows and doors whenever possible, the school district has installed 1,500 portable air cleaners in classrooms and offices and upgraded many of its HVAC systems with high-grade filters that can trap virus-containing aerosols.

The district also obtained carbon-dioxide monitors to gauge how well-ventilated a given room is, something aerosol scientists have recommended schools do if possible. People exhale carbon dioxide when they breathe, and if a room isn’t well ventilated, it will build up in the air, a signal that the space may require more ventilation. School employees go to classrooms every month to sample the carbon-dioxide levels to make sure they aren’t above 700 parts per million. If they are, the school might consider opening more windows in the classroom or upgrading the HVAC system.

In Montgomery County public schools in Virginia, students sit 6 feet apart behind plexiglass or foam barriers for lunch. Students in a third-grade classroom use face masks and desk shields. The district has invested more than $750,000 into cleaning the air in its schools PHOTOS: MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS(3)
The district identified lunch break as one of the school day’s riskiest activities, because kids need to take their masks off to eat, said  Mark Miear, the Montgomery superintendent. To reduce that risk during lunch, students sit 6 feet apart, face away from each other in front of plexiglass or foam barriers and are discouraged from speaking with each other. They are generally limited to 15 minutes of eating time.

The district also set up tents for children whose parents want them to eat outside, where scientists say transmission is much less likely.

Researchers have found that schools implementing measures like Montgomery’s—with mask mandates, physical distancing and increased ventilation—have lower Covid-19 transmission than in the wider community.

[/quote]

Wrong school system.  We are in MD.   No tents.  No plexiglass.  No desk shields.  [/quote]

ha, yes, that was PP's point i think? ("It's behind a paywall I think, so pasting they key bits here (including about Montgomery County VA's approach - I guess we moved to the wrong Montgomery County...)")[/quote]

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