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Parent-Led Carbon Dioxide Measurements Raise Concerns About Air Quality and COVID-19 Risks in Wake County Schools

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE A grassroots group of parents, the NC Alliance for School Equity & Safety (NCASES), publicly released thousands of parent-led air quality measurements taken over several weeks in Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) classrooms and an area Charter.  “The air quality we measured in these schools, and in particular older buildings and portables, were quite alarming to us,” Kira Kroboth said. “We feel a responsibility to share with both the schools and the public. We hope they will do their own assessments, report their results and fix what they find.”  New CDC guidance on safely running schools continues to recommend upgrading heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Federal monies through several programs, such as the Department of Education and the Governor’s Emergency Relief Fund, can be used to pay for these upgrades. “HVAC upgrades are the least divisive COVID mitigation strategy,” Krobot...
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WCPSS May Not Meet NC's Outdated Minimum Ventilation Standards

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Guest Post by Edderic Ugaddan, Senior Data Scientist, Quant at People's CDC We show that for this particular classroom, WCPSS doesn’t appear to meet NC’s outdated minimum ventilation standards of 7.5 CFM/person. How? We use CO2 readings. People exhale a lot of CO2. How high CO2 concentrations go in a room is affected by the ventilation rate, occupancy of the room, activity of the individuals, and age. https://t.co/McbXYFZv3l For this classroom which had 17 3rd graders and 1 teacher, to meet code of 7.5 CFM/person, we expect the steady-state CO2 concentration (i.e. horizontally flat section) to be just below 1500ppm (see red line) The blue line is the CO2 curve associated with the more modern ASHRAE 62.1-2022 ventilation standard for classrooms of ~13-15 CFM/person, which is code in most places. However, in the first few hours in this graph, the recorded CO2 concentration was above the 1500 ppm limit line, even reaching more than 2x the limit! Occupancy stayed the same (16 3rd grad...
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Dangerous 'Free the Smiles' Act SB 173: Take Action Now

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  On February 17th, the NC General Assembly passed a bill --  Senate Bill 173 'Free the Smiles' Act  -- that upon skimming or seeing media coverage seems logical BUT it is, in reality, dangerous and irresponsible.  The NC Alliance for School Equity and Safety believes masks should come off and/or be optional when the time is right. When our public health experts agree. When it is safe and equitable for all students. Not when government decides to play politics with those in schools. But what this 'Free the Smiles' Act really says is irresponsible and reckless. And the public must be informed and so they can reach out to their  State Representatives  and the  Governor . Ask Governor Cooper to veto this bill and tell your representatives to not support overriding a veto.  SB 173, if it becomes a law, should be a concern to  everyone . Anyone who has concern for others or their children. SB 173 states that children on school property can not wea...
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