Greater Latrobe spends $443K to boost air filtration at 5 schools amid pandemic

Greater Latrobe School Board has agreed to invest $443,000 in an ionization system to enhance filtration of interior air at its five schools during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond.

Installation of 147 bipolar ionization units among the schools is expected to begin in early November, according to Superintendent Georgia Teppert.

According to manufacturer Global Plasma Solutions, the units produce positive and negative ions – charged molecules or atoms. The ions combine with particles suspended in the air, causing them to group into larger clusters so they can more easily be filtered from the air. The ions also disrupt surface proteins on pathogens, including bacteria and viruses, rendering them inactive, the company says.

Similar technology is being used at schools in California, Maryland, Mississippi, Wisconsin and other states, according to recent news reports.

Experts say such devices alone won’t prevent the spread of infectious diseases like the novel coronavirus that causes covid-19, the Tribune-Review reported in August. Other measures that are important to minimizing the presence and spread of the coronavirus include sanitizing surfaces, wearing masks and ventilating buildings with outside air, experts and the Centers for Disease Control say.

Still, Greater Latrobe officials are glad to have the added layer of protection.

“This is an extremely important addition… to make our schools safer,” said school board President Dr. Michael Zorch, a retired emergency medicine physician.

The system will be paid for from the district’s capital improvement budget and will have an expected lifespan of a little over a decade, according to Kurt Thomas, the district’s director of facilities, operations and planning.

“While (the coronavirus) really encouraged us to look into this type of device, we believe it will have a long-term positive impact for our school district,” business administrator Dan Watson said. He noted the importance of filtering airborne particles for those who suffer from allergies.

For the time being, the district is offering students a choice between either full-time classroom instruction or full-time remote learning at home. Teppert noted that could change depending on guidance provided next week by state health and education officials.

The Department of Education might recommend that some local districts offer only online instruction if coronavirus transmissions among Westmoreland County residents remain at a “substantial” level.

As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, there were 33 active coronavirus cases among students and staff at Greater Latrobe schools, according to the district website. That included 15 students at the senior high, six at the junior high, two at Baggaley Elementary School, five at Latrobe Elementary School and one at Mt. View Elementary School — along with one staff member at Latrobe Elementary, another working in facilities and transportation and two involved with extracurricular programs.

There also were seven inactive cases — where a person who had tested positive for the coronavirus has completed a recommended time in quarantine and is no longer exhibiting symptoms of the illness, Teppert said. Those cases included three students at Latrobe Elementary and one each at Mt. View Elementary and the senior high — as well as two senior high staffers.

While reporting to and accepting guidance and oversight from state health officials, the district doesn’t wait to begin its own contact tracing. Teppert said at least 10 district officials were at work over the past weekend, checking with students and parents in an effort to identify those who came into close contact with coronavirus cases at the district and needed to quarantine.

Teppert said privacy regulations prevent the district from disclosing the circumstances surrounding specific coronavirus cases, but she said that information is important in determining whether the district will change in-person instruction options for students or if it will close any school buildings.

“If we thought there was more sporadic spreading (of the virus), we’d be reacting differently than if we felt confident that we’re aware of where an individual contracted it,” she said. “Those positives, several of them, were not even in the school during the time that they began their symptoms or their contagious period.”