Ventilation concerns raised as students prepare to head back to the classroom
With a return to classrooms right around the corner in Alberta, some parents and student advocacy groups are calling on the provincial government to implement more safety measures to keep children safe.
Krista Li has two children set to head back to in-person learning and says she has concerns about doing so.
"It's a mix of somewhere between rage (and) a nausea, to be honest," she said.
"There's so much uncertainty and so much that we don't know," added Li, who has children going into grade three and grade seven.
Li said it's particularly concerning for children under 12 who cannot receive a vaccine to protect them from COVID-19. They'll be back in the classroom unvaccinated, many will be unmasked and, by the time school returns, there will no longer be a requirement to isolate if someone tests positive for the virus.
"I think I felt a lot better last year knowing we had at least some protection, some protocols in place," she said.
VENTILATION CONCERNS
The group Support Our Students has also been calling on the government to maintain contact tracing, isolation requirements and testing. They also want significant improvements to ventilation in schools.
"I think we are not doing enough. I think there is an absolute disregard of the role proper ventilation has in schools," said Li.
"When we think about putting 30 kids in a portable classroom with the only ventilation really being a propped open window, what are we doing?"
Krista Li, Aug. 4, 2021
ONTARIO RESPONDS
The concern in Alberta comes the same day Ontario's provincial government announced it is spending an additional $25 million to improve ventilation in schools. It will send 20,000 HEPA filter units to schools across the province, bringing the total amount of money spent on ventilation improvements since the pandemic started to nearly $600 million.
Alberta has provided money for upgrades, the province said, but it's not nearly as much as other jurisdictions.
"During the pandemic, Alberta’s government provided school divisions $250 million in accelerated capital maintenance funding, of which approximately $44 million went to H-VAC and ventilation upgrades in schools," reads a statement from Alberta Education spokesperson Nicole Sparrow.
She added the government plans to release its back-to-school guidelines by the middle of this month.
"We will continue to work with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and will make changes as necessary to ensure a safe and successful school year," the statement said.
Neither of Calgary's two major school boards -- the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) and Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) -- answered whether the $44 million from the province was received or went to improving school ventilation.
"All CBE schools are mechanically ventilated; to further enhance ventilation within CBE schools, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are operated in “occupied mode” prior to each school day and then again at the end of the school day," reads a statement from the CBE.
"Additionally, school HVAC systems have been set to maximize outside air intake, this while accounting for exterior weather conditions. These measures increase air exchange rates in CBE schools. While occupied, schools can work with their facility operator regarding other measures to increase ventilation, such as the opening of windows."
The CCSD did not respond to questions about ventilation by the time this story was posted.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.