TAMPA, Fla. — Parents, you're probably weighing the tough decision of whether or not to send your kids back to classrooms this coming school year. If you're fortunate enough to have the choice of whether to keep your kids learning virtually at home or sending them to school in-person, a virologist says you should add the school's air conditioning system into consideration.
A study done in China pointed to air conditioning as a contributor to the spread of COVID-19 inside a restaurant. It found that the airflow of the air conditioning system was consistent with droplet transmission from person to person. Basically, the study said one outbreak was traced to a restaurant, where a group of people sitting in the path of the air conditioning all caught the novel coronavirus.
"There's more and more evidence of airborne transmission, so we're really worried about air exchange and airflow in rooms so you're not trapped in a sort of cloud of this virus," said Dr. Michael Teng, an associate professor at the College of Internal Medicine at USF.
Dr. Teng says that's a problem for Tampa Bay area schools, with older air conditioning units that aren't equipped for the type of air exchange needed to lessen the risk of contracting COVID-19.
"Even the new schools have not been built to handle this kind of air specification...Classrooms are not built for that, it's not something we generally think about when building schools or even office buildings," said Teng.
Air replacement means that every so often, all of the air in a room has been replaced with new, filtered air. That increased ventilation helps dissipate the virus. In a hospital operating room, the air replacement level is very high. In our homes and our schools, the level is low. Dr. Teng says there's no quick, cheap way to change that.
That's a problem for our districts that are already strapped for cash. Hillsborough County even implemented a half-cent tax to help the school district replace outdated air conditioning systems long before the coronavirus pandemic, so funneling millions of more dollars into replacements and updates before the end of August is impossible.
Other solutions, like ceiling fans, are too expensive and would take too much time and opening windows or doors would be a safety risk for students.
We reached out to all of our local districts to see what changes they're making to their air conditioning systems before the start of in-person classes. Some districts have not provided any information to us yet.
Hillsborough County
A spokesperson from the district sent this statement: "Each air conditioner in the district will have a particle filter. This is the list of air conditioners scheduled for replacement through our referendum dollars: Adams, Bevis, Eisenhower, Franklin, Gibsonton, LaVoy, Leto, Newsome, Robinson Elementary, Valrico, Webb, Westchase, Young, Pride Elementary, Memorial MS, Plant HS. Carryover projects include Sickles, Colson, Benito, Clark, Folsom, Durant, Woodbridge, Mulrennan MS, Randall MS, Rogers MS."
Pasco
The district does not plan to change their air conditioning systems, but they do plan to change their filters more frequently.
Pinellas
The district is working with energy partners and suppliers to review the emerging information.
Sarasota
"We have started looking into different filtration systems and the effectiveness of these systems to add to our A/C units. Our School Board has invested heavily in building infrastructure maintenance including upgrades of HVAC systems. This has allowed our team to replace all outdated mechanical equipment with systems designed to meet current industry benchmarks for fresh air intake. Our systems are designed so that we are continuously bringing into a classroom 15-20% direct air from the outside. This causes the classroom air to exchange with outside air with high frequency. This puts us in a good position for fresh air intake which is key in controlling the spread of COVID-19."
10 Tampa Bay reached out to the other school districts in the area and are waiting to hear back. This story will be updated to reflect their responses.
- Here are the reopening plans for Tampa Bay school districts
- Ousted Florida COVID-19 dashboard manager files whistleblower complaint
- Hillsborough superintendent presents reopening plans with delayed school year start date
- 156 more Floridians have died from COVID-19 as state reports another 13,965 cases
- Florida's recent record day for COVID-19 might not have been quite that high
- Gov. DeSantis: Florida to cut ties with testing labs providing delayed COVID-19 results
- How to see Comet NEOWISE and the International Space Station
FREE 10 TAMPA BAY APP:
►Stay In the Know! Sign up now for the Brightside Blend Newsletter