The Problem: School Bus Air Management
School buses are the largest form of public transportation and they serve our youngest and most valuable commuters, our children. Children have developing lungs with narrow airways, compared with adults, they breathe larger volumes of air relative to their body size. Given this, they are particularly vulnerable to poor air quality. This exposure to poor air quality places them at an increased risk of viral infection, respiratory issues, and cognitive impairment.
It is no secret that school bus transportation has been the missing link in the pathogen mitigation process of our school systems. Our school buses place these young commuters in a high density setting with minimal separation that increases their risk of exposure to many viruses, including Measles, influenza (FLU), RSV, Common Cold, and COVID-19, which are spread through respiratory aerosols.
According to the CDC, the influenza virus circulates year-round. In the United States, the flu season lasts from October to May in the northern hemisphere, and from April to September in the southern hemisphere. Common colds also increase during this time period, which, is why it is coined the “Cold and Flu Season”. While we are able to separate desks within the school classroom and reduce density, we are limited to achieve such results within a school bus. School buses have accurately been deemed “Super Spreaders” by many.
Let’s have a simple comparison of space between a bus and a classroom:
A typical classroom is roughly 1000 square feet and serves 30 students. If we applied the same density of a school bus to the classroom, it would have 260 students in a space that was meant for 30 students!
“It defies logic to have students travel on a tightly packed bus to school and then have a teacher tell them to spread out and stay 6 feet apart when they enter the classroom.”
Schools are an integral cornerstone of nearly every local community and affect everyone involved in that community either directly or indirectly. There is endless literature educating us about the impacts of poor air quality on the physical health of students, bus drivers, teachers, staff, parents, grandparents, volunteers, and their families abroad.
“The expense to deal with sickness far exceeds the necessary investment to prevent sickness”
James Dally – President of AirKleen
The Cost of Sickness to School Administration: Chronic illness can often lead to fatigue and low energy levels of children leading to increased absences. Our teachers' health is directly correlated to the health of the students and the absenteeism of such staff is disruptive and expensive. The Integrated Benefits Institute(IBI) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) provides estimates to US employers for costs related to lost sick days and the numbers are staggering. View these costs here
Given the information above, the most dramatic improvements to air quality in a school system’s facilities can be accomplished by improving the air quality in their “school buses”