MAINE, USA — Throughout the pandemic, Congress provided over $180 billion of relief to K-12 schools.
A running theme of how a lot of schools chose to spend that money, is by improving air quality within the halls and classrooms.
The Bangor School Department was provided $12 million in federal funding. With an additional $14 million in bonds, $2 million in operations, and $233 thousand from fund balances, the school system had approximately $28 million for improving their schools—something Superintendent James Tager said is unheard of.
“The bottom line is the COVID dollars, as tough as that time was for us for education and a lot of other reasons, these are dollars that are unprecedented," Tager said. "We have a lot of old schools, so this has really helped us particularly in the area of HVAC. We are doing some type of an HVAC project at all of our schools.”
According to the Bangor School Department, three schools received completely overhauled HVAC systems. Bangor High School was completed fall of 2020, Vine Street School was finished this past summer, and Fruit Street School is set to be completed this upcoming summer.
The rest of the funds went toward installing a new boiler at Vine Street School, repairs for weight bearing on the high school roof, new S.T.E.M. labs at the high school, and improved school safety by checking locks and doors as well as adding interior doors.
The school system originally had a five to 10-year plan in place for these improvements, but because of the additional COVID funds, they were able to move up the timeline.
“We have two schools that are about 100 years old, and all of our schools are older," Tager said. "I think that the HVAC is something that really improves the health of our students, our faculty, staff, to have that good air quality."
When the funds were provided by Congress, one of the CDC’s recommendations was to improve air quality.
Brewer schools also followed that recommendation, spending over $5 million dollars upgrading the HVAC system in its high school.
The Brewer School Department went on to spend more than what was provided from federal funding, to continue renovations that when beyond the scope of what the funds were designated for.
Two summers ago, Brewer High School began installing an HVAC system starting in one wing of the school and finished the other half this past summer.
The Brewer High School Principal, Brent Slowikowski, said many of the renovations are “behind the scenes.” A majority of the improvements to the school’s systems are behind walls and in the attic.
“During the height of COVID, there were a lot of mitigation strategies with masks with cleaning surfaces," Slowikowski said. "But really, a lot of it got back to the quality of the air that people were breathing — and so how could we turn over that air and purify it? This system just allows for a much healthier environment.”
The requirements of the HVAC system and maintaining good air quality also necessitated new windows around the high school.
Large columns can be seen the back of most classrooms, and provide fresh air to the room.
Before the renovations, univents were used for the heating system, which would mix hot air with air fed from outside. With HVAC improvements, the heating system was replaced with fin tubes, and acts similar to a heat pump.
A total of 44 classrooms received some form of renovation.
The improvements to Brewer High School’s HVAC system marks phase three of a long running plan to improve the old building which started in 2013.
Phase one and two improvements included the kitchen, cafeteria, main office, guidance office, lecture hall, exterior façade, gymnasium, art rooms, technology infrastructure, and parking, adding up to more than $8 million dollars in renovations. Parts one and two were funded through two Qualified School Construction Bonds.
All the renovations, spanning from 2013 to 2022 reach a total of over $14 million dollars with taxpayers paying over $8 million in debt payments.
For those in leadership roles at the school, they can now breathe easier knowing the students are in a safer and cleaner environment.
“We could talk about ventilation, we could talk about HVAC units or DOAS units, and cassettes, fin tubes and all of that, but really, it makes for a better learning environment," Slowikowski said. "The air quality itself and the renovations that were necessitated because of it — it just makes for a better environment for learning and teaching.”