Thread by @MarcelHarmon1

Sure. I think that’s great advice, whether or not we’re in a pandemic. As high performance bldg consultants, we’ve been doing that since last March. Engaging school districts to help them work through building/behavioral strategies for reopening relevant to their situation. 1/

As part of that effort we also developed a viral infection risk estimator to help districts (in conjunction w/us, by themselves, or w/ other consultants) evaluate the most effective strategies room by room. Particularly important when resources are limited. I know other... 2/

consultants have been doing similar things (though perhaps not the behavior focus or developing calculators).

But there are limits to such efforts, or other local partnerships w/ businesses, short of a nationally coordinated effort to reopen schools. Decades of deferred... 3/

maintenance is the norm. So is under-ventilation, closed outdoor air dampers, & MERV 7 or 8 filters. Inoperable windows & understaffed maintenance / custodians are not uncommon. In many cases it would take costly system modifications just to get ventilation levels to... 4/

code minimum (not enough for pathogen control, or even for good cognitive function) or filters to MERV 13.

And public schools have a long history of being underfunded in general, as they’ve been asked to do more & more. So they were starting from behind even before the... 5/

pandemic hit. Now they’ve had to figure out how to make their buildings safe, equitably deliver online/hybrid/in-person education, physical distance, facilitate mask wearing, provide adequate testing/contact tracing, feed kids who depend on meals, provide some type of... 6/

extra-curriculurs, provide adequate PPE & other associated supplies, & equitably meet social/emotional needs.

Public ed $ come primarily from the state (with operational/education $ coming from a separate pot of money than new construction or major renovation $). W/ state... 7/

budgets decimated & federal relief $ both not enough & too slow reaching districts, they haven’t been able to do what’s been needed. As a result, districts are limping through the start of the school year, with their situation exacerbated by often high community spread... 8/

rates due to everything from poor testing & lack of mask ordinances to high university campus infection rates.

We should have begun a national effort last spring to reopen schools that looked at addressing all of this & more. But now most districts’ options are limited. 9/

However, local businesses could help implement these limited options. Like obtaining portable air cleaners for classrooms in lieu of increased ventilation (or opening sealed or non-existent windows). Tracking down higher MERV rated filters. Obtaining masks/PPE &...10/

testing/contact tracing supplies. Tracking down labs w/ the capacity to analyze the tests. Businesses could help furnish & deliver food to students & their families. They could help find additional resources for social/emotional support.

They could also help spearhead... 11/

local campaigns to increase community mask wearing along w/ testing & contact tracing. They could help develop contact tracing apps or mass produce rapid testing materials.

Even w/ the limited options directly & indirectly available to districts, there is a lot... 12/

businesses could do working w/ school districts. I’m sure you & others have a lot of other good ideas as well.

But businesses also need to apply what political/economic clout they have to pressure government leaders from the local to national level for the... 13/

implementation of science-based strategies & the $ to do so. While we can apply bandaids w/out this happening, until it does we’ll keep failing our students & educators. Some places worse than others.

And so business should also be advocating for changes in leadership. 14/