Good Air Means Everything, a letter to VSB
/Vancouver DPAC · Letter to VSB
“Good Air Means Everything”
September 8, 2022
Dear VSB Trustees & VSB Senior Management Team,
Everyone is excited to return to school and back to the learning and belonging it brings. DPAC is interested in receiving details on readiness and preparations for this new school year regarding mitigation of virus transmissions.
Here are the questions that DPAC has:
- How much of the July 2022 Federal money given to the Province for ventilation improvements was allocated to the VSB? Followed by: How was this money spent or how will it be spent?
Background: On July 14, the Federal government announced $11,906,000 will be added to the provincial Safe Return to Class Fund to “ensure the air in our classrooms is as clean as possible for students, teachers, and staff”.
- How many VSB schools have continuous air quality monitoring? & What are the various other methods that the VSB uses to measure air quality and in these other methods, how often is it measured?
Background: We would appreciate receiving fulsome information on what tools VSB has used to “ensure the air in our classrooms is as clean as possible for students, teachers, and staff.”
- Can PACs provide their school with CO2 monitors?
Background: There is now no doubt about how COVID spreads. Good air means everything. Parents want in-person schooling where the air is safe.
- Can PACs provide their school with HEPA Filters and/or make Corsi-Rosenthal boxes?
Background: There is now no doubt about how COVID spreads. Good air means everything. Parents want in-person schooling where the air is safe.
Vancouver DPAC is hoping that the Province will enable the VSB to implement more protections this year to keep transmission down in schools. ASHRAE is now recommending higher efficiency technologies such as HEPA and UV-C devices. The more protective measures in schools, the higher the protection for the community and the greater the inclusion.. Inclusion allows students who are at risk or whose families are at risk to be part of their school community. Providing a school environment that provides protections for the most vulnerable, provides an environment that is safer and more accessible to all.
Many thanks for your time. We look forward to meeting with VSB staff and trustees this year, and working together for a community whose goal is a strong educational system.
Sincerely,
Vik Khanna
DPAC Chair 2022-2023
On behalf of the DPAC Executive
