Thread by @Poppendieck

#WHIAQ Schools. Alex Marrero. Denver County Public Schools Superintendent.

Jesus Jara: Clark County School District Superintendent.

(Lost the intro thread.... But both have districts that with 10,000s of staff/teachers and 90,000 plus students). 1/

- Clark County has 10,000 homeless students.

- Marroro. Funding and policy. Has spent $25 million on IAQ (MERV 13 filtration as standard and IAQ monitoring). What happens when money ends? Filters need to exchanged. 2/

- Marroro. Some relief funds have been used for things like bus drivers to alleviate shortage. Need to move IAQ changes into policy so it becomes part of regular funding.

- Marroro. Academic performance is tied to building performance which is tied to health performance. 3/

- Marroro. We don't question water quality. We shouldn't have to question air quality in our schools.

Jara. First efforts was more airflow and cleaning cooling coils. 4/

Jara. Why does the gaming industry monitor CO2? Probably should do it in schools to! How are we monitoring systemically air for students and educators.

Jara. Received $32 million in first response, then $82 million to open, now $770 million to address IAQ. 5/

Jara. Have a lot more to do.

Enger. We have the data proving link between IAQ and performance. How do create parity between schools function and the health outcomes? What are lasting district level policy that are needed to prioritize IAQ? 6/

Marrero. Regression when it comes to educational outcomes during pandemic (although some flourished).
- Train people in IAQ
- Have an IAQ dashboard for district (hopefully by end of year for DPS).
- Include equity in outcomes.
- What happens when funding ends?
7/

Jara. Need to think about the health of the workforce. Address chronic absenteeism. Need support the Board of Trustees. Need technical assistance and support for IAQ, and create pipelines for IAQ knowledge people. Need a lot of help.
8/

Jara. Critical to discuss IAQ in the larger community. Why healthy buildings matter and why changes are made need to be communicated to school community.

Enger. How are you communicating the metrics and impact to the school and staff? How do you measure success.
9/

Jara. Education of the public is critical.

Marrero. Thrilled to be in spotlight, but do not have it all figured out. There is nothing holding us accountable for schools to do this (YES). Test scores yes. IAQ no. (really good point).
10/

Marrero. Seeing improved perception on surveys and attendance going up for students and staff. Teacher absences can cascaded.

Marrero. Let's seize the moment. Ask those who are running for office what they are going to do for school IAQ.
11/11