I urge the Illinois General Assembly and Governor J.B. Pritzker to pass Illinois Stakeholders for Air Quality in Schools’ (ISAQS)* HB3713 CLEAN AIR FOR HEALTHY EQUITABLE SCHOOLS ACT, introduced by Representative Camille Lilly! Illinois students, educators, and staff deserve clean air. This bill will quickly and significantly transform air quality for all public schools. It should be noted that this is not an unfunded mandate—the bill is subject to appropriation (i.e., grants would pay for the equipment and services, not the schools).

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) is a global leader in developing indoor air quality (IAQ) standards. Experts affiliated with the Illinois Chapter of ASHRAE estimate that only 14% of classrooms in Illinois public schools meet their minimum ventilation code requirements. Research shows that Illinois is not alone: most schools do not meet minimum ventilation standards. The drinking water and lunches served in schools must meet specific criteria to be considered safe–it’s time we expect the same for indoor air. 

Improved air quality can significantly reduce the transmission of respiratory illnesses, while also removing mold, pollutants, and allergens from the air. There is evidence that improved air quality is associated with better attendance, enhanced cognitive function, higher test scores, and even improved physical health (e.g., fewer asthma and respiratory symptoms). This is an equity issue, as racial and ethnic minorities, as well as low-income communities are disproportionately impacted by asthma, pollution, and viral illnesses. Promoting cleaner, healthier schools is crucial. We must protect all students and educators—especially those most vulnerable.

Currently, a clean indoor air movement is brewing nationwide. For instance, the White House recently hosted a Summit on Indoor Air Quality. In addition, ASHRAE announced plans to develop a national pathogen mitigation standard, as experts advise that current building ventilation standards are no longer sufficient to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. The bill’s list of endorsements (see below) includes the former president of ASHRAE, a presenter at the White House’s Indoor Air Quality Summit, a World Health Organization air quality consultant, as well as physicians, epidemiologists, public health experts, and advocacy groups. The bill also has received endorsements from numerous organizations, including Illinois Federation of Teachers, Chicago Teachers Union, SEIU Healthcare Illinois, SMART Local 265, Illinois Medical Professionals Action Collaborative Team, Illinois Families for Public Schools, and Chicago Chapter National Black Nurses Association.

This bill would provide ventilation verification assessments for all public schools, in addition to high-quality, quiet, portable HEPA air cleaners and air quality monitors for all classrooms, libraries, health offices, music/art rooms, and cafeterias. A focus on equity means that schools most in need of clean indoor air will receive their equipment first. Educational materials conveying the value of IAQ will also be provided. Finally, classrooms that do not have mechanical ventilation would need to have at least one window that is safe to operate. These enhancements can significantly improve air quality for students, teachers, and staff in Illinois public schools. 

I support Illinois HB3713, the Clean Air for Healthy Equitable Schools bill and encourage Illinois legislators to VOTE YES on this initiative! Our teachers and students deserve to work/learn in schools that meet expert recommendations for clean air!

 

Concerns that our members have shared:

“This is an equity issue; if all students don't have the same healthy air to breathe, how can we expect them to thrive at school?”

“I think with as many hours as our young children spend in school for over a decade of their life, it is important to have good air quality. Parents want to feel like their kids are safe at school….” 

“Frequent absences break the continuity of a child's learning. Keeping air in schools clean with good filtration and ventilation lessens the chances of spread of airborne diseases in classrooms and thus helps children stay healthy and avoid absences. When a whole class is present for nearly every day, learning stays on pace for all the students.” 

“I am the parent of a child on immunosuppressants as well as several children with environmental allergies. Cleaner air in schools is important to me because school is a place that my children have to go to and cleaner air within the schools would make that environment safer for our family.”

*Illinois Stakeholders for Air Quality in Schools (ISAQS), with almost 300 members representing nearly 80 Illinois school districts, is composed of parents, teachers, concerned citizens, air quality experts, and public health officials.

 

Clean Air for Healthy Equitable Schools (HB3713) Endorsements

Illinois Federation of Teachers

Chicago Teachers Union 

SMART Local 265

SEIU Healthcare Illinois

Chicago Westside Branch NAACP

Carbondale Branch NAACP

Illinois Medical Professionals Action Collaborative Team (IMPACT)

Chicago Chapter National Black Nurses Association (CCNBNA)

CCCTU Local 1600 - Cook County College Teachers Union

Illinois Families for Public Schools

Activate Chicago Parents

Progressive Democrats of America - Illinois

She Votes Illinois

Brighton Park Neighborhood Council

Indivisible Chicago-South Side

Indivisible Lincoln Square

Our Revolution Downstate IL

Our Illinois Revolution

Independent Progressive Alliance

Project N95

Indoor Air Care Advocates

Barbara Norman, PhD, MPH, MSPS, MSN, Former Deputy Commissioner, Chicago Department of Public Health; Former President, APHA Black Caucus of Health Workers; Former Captain U.S. Army

Deanna Behrens, MD, MSME, pediatric intensivist, Park Ridge, IL; Health Policy Scholar through Academic Pediatric Association

Jason Kane, MD, MS, FAAP, FCCM, PICU Attending Physician at Comer Children's Hospital; Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago; research: quality and outcomes in pediatric patients

Zachary Rubin, MD, Pediatric allergist/immunologist, Naperville, IL 

Lidia Morawska, PhD, Distinguished Professor; Director, International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health at Queensland U of Technology-a Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organization; Australian Laureate Fellow; Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science; Member, The Lancet COVID-19 Commission Task Force

William Bahnfleth, PhD, PE, ASHRAE former President and Epidemic Task Force Chair; Chair of ASHRAE pathogen mitigation standard team; Fellow of ASHRAE, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the International Society for Indoor Air Quality and Climate; engineering professor, Pennsylvania State University

Brent Stephens, PhD, MSE, indoor air quality and infectious disease transmission expert; Chair and professor, Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology

Ian Cull, CIH, PE, Founder and Chief Science Officer of Indoor Science, an Illinois-based Indoor Environmental Quality consulting firm that works with schools to improve air quality

Robin Kalish, MD, MPH, pediatrician, Naperville, IL

Maria Pyra, PhD, MPH, infectious disease epidemiologist, IL 

Shelly Miller, PhD, presenter, White House Summit on Improving Indoor Air Quality; mechanical engineer researching indoor air, airborne infectious diseases; professor, University of Colorado Boulder

Jim Rosenthal, past President, National Air Filtration Association; co-founder of Air Relief Technologies; voting member, ASHRAE 52.2; co-inventor of the Corsi-Rosenthal Box DIY air filter

Kathleen Owen, MS, FASHRAE; air filtration expert; member, ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force (air filtration); chair, ASHRAE 185.5 (reactive air cleaners); past Chair ASHRAE 52.2 (MERV filtration)

Jose-Luis Jimenez, PhD, a top 10 most cited aerosol expert; Fellow, American Association for Aerosol Research; engineer and chemist; Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder

Kimberly Prather, PhD, aerosol expert; Distinguished Chair in Atmospheric Chemistry; author, “Airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2” in the journal Science; professor, University of California San Diego

Michael Hoerger, PhD, MSCR, Founding Director of Health Psychology PhD program; clinical health psychologist, medical scientist, professor, Tulane University

David Elfstrom, P.Eng., CEM, CMVP, LEED AP, has been assessing building ventilation & filtration systems for clients to improve indoor air quality during the pandemic

Robert Bean, ASHRAE Fellow & Distinguished Lecturer; founder of Indoor Climate Consultants Inc.; ASHRAE Learning Institute instructor; indoor environmental quality, Co-host Edifice Complex Podcast

Devbhaktuni Srikrishna, MS, is an MIT trained engineer, founder of PatientKnowHow.com, air filtration researcher, and has been published in the Lancet and the Journal of the American Medical Association

Amanda Hu, BA, BFA, NCT is an interdisciplinary designer, clean air advocate and National Air Filtration Association Certified Technician

Joe Vipond, MD, is an ER doctor based in Calgary Alberta, past-president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, and co-founder of Masks4Canada and ProtectOurProvinceAB

Bill Hayward, CleanClassroomAir.com, founder and CEO of Hayward Score, has been providing actionable knowledge and leadership on how to create healthy indoor environments