Parents and community members have been telling Portland Public Schools that we need safe, clean, fresh classroom air for kids and teachers for years. But parents speaking up for proper ventilation and air filtration have often been going it alone – an email to someone in the central office that goes unanswered, an email to the principal whose forward of your email to someone in the central office also goes unanswered, a comment at a facilities meeting with an invitation to email the committee members, but the email goes unanswered …
These one-off emails and public comments have not been heard or taken seriously. But parents and community members have often successfully flipped the power dynamic and gotten district action for health – when parents and community members have organized and worked to speak up together.
We did just that when families spoke up on the Oregon Health Authority air purifier program. Family voices turned the district from a plan of “No additional units needed” to a plan to order 600 units of the Medify MA-112. And family voices successfully turned that plan even further. Since we have over 2600 classrooms in the district, 600 was inadequate, and that plan included no Medify MA-1000’s for the many gyms, cafeteria, large libraries, and other large communal spaces in our schools, parents new PPS needs more than 600 of the Medify units that OHA had designated for classrooms. District staff finally announced great news on May 2nd! A full order of 3500 new air purifiers, which will be enough to supply each of our classrooms with 2 air purifiers.
Read excerpts from families’ powerful statements in support of safe indoor air and the OHA program:
“We are PPS parents with significant concerns about indoor air quality in our schools. We request that you take advantage of the offering from OHA and get Medify units in our schools, or explain why this is not feasible and how you plan to mitigate the risks of infectious disease, wildfire smoke, general urban air pollutants, and potential toxic air in the event of disasters. Families deserve answers and a reasonable plan.”
“We live in the PPS district and our daughter had been enrolled … prior to the Covid pandemic. We very much would like to return to in-person school for our daughter but our circumstances do not allow that given ongoing health risk to family members. One way to mitigate those risks would be air quality in each of the classrooms at our neighborhood schools that meet recommended standards to reduce the risk of covid (and other disease) transmission. Air purifiers certainly are a part of the efforts to meet those standards.
Please respond to the inquiries …. Your collective engagement with this serious public health challenge is extremely important to us and to our judgment for when we will be able to have our daughter back in the classrooms of our home district.”
“I am a PPS parent. We want to get OHA’s Medify air purifiers at our school…. I am also a PPS employee. We want OHA’s Medify air purifiers at our school as staff do not run Intellipure purifiers air purifiers due to their noise level.”
“Since 2021, I have been pleading with PPS to provide adequate safety measures to protect our students from the ongoing pandemic and other airborne illnesses. Upgrading the air purifier units in classrooms will be a significant step forward in improving the health of our school environments.
Children and teachers in our schools are now experiencing repeat infections of Covid-19. These infections are damaging organs, causing long haul symptoms, and are increasing health risks, including the development of type 1 diabetes (those under the age of 1, the siblings of our students and children of our staff, experience an increased risk of 584%).
Please, ensure we get these air purifiers in our schools. …. This small act of coordination could make a significant difference in the health and well-being of the entire PPS student population, PPS staff, and the families in our community.
We want to get OHA’s Medify air purifiers at our school.”
“I fully support this ask …. This seems like an easy win for everyone involved. Less illness from students & staff alike-for free no less! We want OHA Medify units to be added to our local schools because we want a healthy community.”
“I am a PPS parent. We want to get OHA’s Medify air purifiers at our school. Clean air in the classroom is very important to me.”
“My children … have missed 15 and 16 days, respectively, this school year due to viral illnesses contracted at school, almost exclusively respiratory viruses. At one point 1/3 of the school was absent. PPS is always sending me automated messages asking how they can help to improve attendance. I support the district taking district wide action to give our students cleaner air and reduce virus transmission and learning loss. In addition, our school is about 500 feet from a freeway …. Cleaner air in classrooms would help mitigate some of the pollution that our students are exposed to and that causes short and long term respiratory issues.
Please … take districtwide action to order Medify filters as described, or to inform and support individual school administrations to make orders.”
“As community members, we want OHA Medify units to be added to our local schools.”
“I am a PPS parent of a child with asthma and long COVID. Clean air in school is extremely important for my child and our family. High quality Medify air purifiers are available through OHA. Please … clarify the purchasing authority and procedure.”
“I am [PPS] parent as well as an environmental epidemiologist in my professional life. I fully support the efforts to get Medify air purifiers for all schools, including those who have had or are slated for HVAC upgrades. Please do whatever you can to facilitate ordering the Medify’s through the OHA opportunity.”
“I am a PPS parent of two 4th graders.. We want to get OHA’s Medify air purifiers at our school.”
“I’m a PPS parent for a kindergartner and first grader. This is not an actual answer to our questions about what our children need. Our schools need the Medify air purifiers added to student and staff spaces. Please answer our questions ….”
“Respectfully, this is not an actual answer to our questions about what our children need. As a PPS parent I have seen the published numbers from our schools’ classrooms and shared spaces and we NEED the Medify air purifiers ADDED to student and staff spaces as the number of air changes are not adequate.”
“I’m a PPS parent. While we appreciate the interest…this is not an actual answer to our questions about what our children need. Our schools need the Medify air purifiers added to student and staff spaces. Please answer ALL our questions ….
Time is running out!”
“As a PPS parent I would appreciate a response …. It feels like we’re intentionally being excluded from decisions that directly impact the health of our children. By placing an order does that mean the Medify filters? Thank you for taking the time to reply.”
“I’m a PPS parent with a medically vulnerable child. Leaving families to individually mitigate for breathing clean air via individual masking is an institutional failure. Imagine telling families that all students have to individually bring enough water to properly hydrate during the school day after finding lead in the pipes. The Intellipures previously purchased by the district are inadequate and too loud to be used on their highest settings. Our schools need the Medify air purifiers added to student and staff spaces.”
“I’m a PPS parent. It would be helpful if you could answer the specific questions … about what our children need. It is very important to understand the details because we parents are on our own in trying to keep our entire families safe from repeated infections.”
“I’m a parent of a student enrolled in a PPS school. The email response below is not an actual answer to our questions that were asked earlier. Our schools need the Medify air purifiers added to student and staff spaces.”
“I am a PPS parent and one of many Portland and Multnomah County voters with a compromised immune system and a child with asthma. Our family is extremely affected by poor air quality and airborne viruses transmitted in school and then to the community. Please answer … about your plans to take advantage of public resources we have paid for and expect to see distributed to PPS schools. PPS schools need high quality Medifys air purifiers as well as Intellipures.”
“I would like more information about what specific order the district is making, as detailed in her response below. I understand the Medify air filters to be a huge improvement on the Intellipure air filters we already have in classrooms, particularly around volume (I understand many teachers and students find the Intelipures noisy. This particularly harms students with sensory disabilities like one of my children). As a Portland voter who votes in every election, I want to know what specific steps the district is taking to maximize this opportunity for cleaner air and healthier students.
Is the district ordering Medifys? Which ones? If not, why not? Will you support individual schools to order them by the deadline (which I understand to be in one week)?”
“I’m a PPS parent. I appreciate your time in responding, though this is not an actual answer to our questions about what our children need … I support the addition of Medify air purifiers to student and staff spaces.”
“I am one of many Portland and Multnomah County voters affected by how much airborne virus allowed to be transmitted in schools then transmits to the community.
Please answer … about your plans to take advantage of public resources we have paid for and expect to see distributed to PPS schools. PPS schools need Medifys and Intellipures.”
“I am a PPS parent with two students … I was hoping that you could provide additional clarity. While I understand that you are placing an order next week, I would like to understand what the specific order will entail and if it would simply include replacement filters for existing air purifiers or if it would also include additional Medify and Intellipure air purifiers. I understand that a number of the spaces in our school have very poor air quality at the moment and simply keeping the current systems in place without an upgrade would not be sufficient to meet recommended standards. … we would appreciate additional details before the order is placed since the district placing one order may preclude individual schools with different requirements from making additional requests.”
“Please provide a response that includes more information … As a parent of a student in the PPS community, I am very eager to know how you all intend to move forward with the Medify order.”
“I am one of many Portland and Multnomah County voters affected by how much airborne virus is allowed to be transmitted in schools to then transmit to the community. Currently we are keeping our oldest, school-age child out of PPS, in large part due to concerns about indoor air quality. … I am asking that you please answer … questions about your plans to take advantage of public resources we as taxpayers have paid for and expect to see distributed to PPS schools. PPS schools need Medify air purifiers and the existing Intellipure air purifiers.”