NYS Dept. of Health receives grant to help improve air quality in schools

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)--- Improving indoor air quality in schools—a federal grant has been awarded to the New York State’s Department of Health for one of its programs to do just that.

Five million dollars will be put towards educating schools, especially disadvantaged districts, about the importance of good air quality in their buildings.

Michele Herdt, Director of the New York State Environmental Health Program, explained how poor air quality can negatively impact students.  

"Health conditions such as asthma can be exasperated, definitely respiratory symptoms are related to indoor air quality, but it also impacts attendance rates, and it directly impacts learning."

Herdt said students who are in classrooms with poor air quality are less likely to focus.

The health program plans on expanding its regional education seminars and will offer stipends for school personnel to attend. 

Brian Fessler, Director of Governmental relations for the New York State School Boards Association said in the years since the pandemic, schools have begun to focus on the importance of clean air quality and up-to-date HVAC systems.  

"We are not environmental and air quality experts," said Fessler. "So, we look to those opportunities for that information and those resources to make our classrooms and school buildings as safe, healthy, and productive as possible."

Herdt further explained how the five million will be spent to help schools.  

"We are also going to be developing an indoor air quality monitoring tool and that does take some equipment. We are trying to design it with lower costs equipment that’s portable so that schools can afford to purchase it."

The funding will allow the program to teach about 85-100 schools how to use the monitoring tool.