Sparta Schools Continue to Prepare for Students Return: Masks, MERV and Other PPE – TAPinto.net
SPARTA, NJ – In preparing for school opening the Sparta District has brought supplies that are a sign of the times. Acting Superintendent Patrick McQueeney said the district has spent “close to $150,000 for COVID related preparations.”
Those purchases include:
- 30,000 disposable masks,
- 650 reusable masks for all staff,
- 325 reusable masks with a clear window,
- 20 face shields,
- 20 N95 masks, with 80 more to be added Monday, August 24,
- 200 KN95 masks,
- 8,000 gloves,
- 3 Electrostatic Sprayers with 11 scheduled for deliver September 8 and 14 to be delivered October.
- Signage including social distancing reminders, mask reminders, hand washing reminders and instructions
“We are actively pursuing vendors to increase this stockpile for our return to school November 2,” McQueeney said.
As announced at the June and July board of education meetings, the district has added 350 hand sanitizing stations, “in every classroom, outside common area and in hallways,” McQueeney said. Other hand washing accommodations include a review of all sinks and faucets that have been fixed and upgraded as necessary. Touchless paper towel dispensers have been added as well, McQueeney said.
According to McQueeney, typical cleaning schedules will be augmented by “disinfecting and sanitizing all high touch surfaces every night when students and staff are not present. During the school day the plan is to have additional custodial support to continue to monitor and disinfect high touch surfaces such as door handles, bathrooms and stairwell railings, as needed.”
See you in November
With the announcement last week to scrap the plan for a hybrid return to school, Sparta School District is the only public school district in Sussex County not opening with students in the classrooms in September. With 50-60 teachers applying for Family First Coronavirus Response Act or Americans with Disabilities act leaves of absence, the district had to go to an all virtual plan.
Acting Superintendent Patrick McQueeney did announce the plan to return to in-person instruction by November 2. Districts that applied to go “all virtual” in September are required by the New Jersey Department of Education to submit a plan and timeline to get children back in school.
“We chose November 2 with the intention to begin hybrid instruction before the end of the first marking period,” McQueeney said.
The district received $63,396 in CARES Act money, according to McQueeney. “This money was allocated to PPE purchases, Summer Enrichment program for struggling students and Remote Learning Articulation for our teachers.”
McQueeney said the district did not receive any additional requests for Family First Coronavirus Response Act or Americans with Disabilities Act on Monday, but “we have seen additional requests for accommodations to teach from home due to childcare concerns now that we are predominantly on home instructions,” McQueeney said. He said the district will be vetting those requests in the coming days.
Sparta Education Association Concerns
According to correspondence from the Sparta Education Association there are concerns about the condition of the district’s Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning or HVAC systems. President Susan Sawey said she had requested documentation that supported McQueeney’s claim that the “district’s HVAC and ventilation systems had been reviewed by Buildings and Grounds personnel and the district’s Architect of Record, found to be functioning properly and in compliance with New Jersey Department of Education guidance.”
Saway said she had not received the records and the “assertion that the systems are in compliance with NJDOE guidelines had not been verified to [the SEA’s] satisfaction.”
McQueeney said the district has met the requirements set by “the New Jersey Department of Health Indoor Air Quality Standards and guidance provided from the NJDOE in their Return to School documentation,” but the SEA wants to see proof.
According to the acting Superintendent the high school and middle school buildings currently have MERV 8 filters with “MERV 13 filters scheduled to be delivered by August 26.”
“All the other buildings have MERV 8 filters,” McQueeney said. “MERV 13 filters are not recommended for these units due to the possibility of overloading the motors in these units.”
Air Filter Details- What is MERV?
MERV 13 filters require a higher throughput of air. For the units that have the MERV 8 filters “we are expected to ensure the proper functioning of the units and increase the fresh air ventilation by such suggestions as increasing air flow intake or running ventilation for two hours prior to occupancy or two hours after or opening windows,” according to McQueeney.
According to American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers or ASHRAE’s research on SARS CoV-2 virus, their “current recommendation is to use a filter with a MERV of 13…Of course, the ultimate choice needs to take the capabilities if the HVAC systems into consideration…If a MERV 13 filter cannot be accommodated in the system, then use the highest MERV rating you can.”
According to Grainger an air filter’s minimum efficiency reporting value or MERV rating measures how effectively the filter stops dust and other contaminants from passing through the filter and into the air stream. Filters with higher MERV ratings trap small particles more effectively than filters with lower MERV ratings.
According to Grainger:
MERV 8 filters control particles down to 3.0 to 10.0 micron particle size: including pollen, dust mites, mold/spores, dust lint, sanding dust. They are used in commercial buildings, industrial workspaces, better residential buildings and paint booths.
MERV 13 filters control particles down to 1.0 to 3.0 micron particle size: including pollen, dust mites, mold/spores, dust lint, sanding dust, Legionella, lead dust, coal dust, humidifier dust, nebulizer dust, bacteria, tobacco smoke, sneeze nuclei, pet dander, copier toner. They are used in hospital inpatient care, smoking lounges and superior commercial buildings.
Hybrid Reopening Plan
Over the summer months the board of education submitted a plan to the NJDOE for a hybrid opening in September. The state approved plan called for the students to be divided in half, designated as A or B. Each cohort of students would either be in school or distance learning on an alternating weekly basis.
The schedules were to be abbreviated, with no set lunch period, though it would be “longer than an early dismissal day,” the superintendent explained at the July board of education meeting. The middle school students were meet with every class each day for a shortened amount of time.
The high school students were going to meet periods one through four on Mondays and Wednesdays and periods five through eight on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Students would have all eight classes on Fridays for a shorter amount of time.
Elementary school students would have shorter time periods within their day but would continue to meet with their “specials” teachers such as art, music and physical education.
McQueeney said families responded to a transportation survey: 1119 students were waiving their right to a seat on a bus and 2091 were going to ride the school bus.
COVID-19 in Sussex County
Sussex County represents the fourth lowest number of positive cases with 1,362 on Sunday, August 23, according to the New Jersey Department of Health’s COVID-19 Dashboard. With 161 deaths, Sussex County ranks sixth in the state for mortality.
Sparta is reported to have had 135 cases and 12 COVID-19 related deaths.
Sussex County has recorded low numbers of positive COVID-19 test results and relatively low morality numbers. The New Jersey Department of Health’s new rating system confirms this with Sussex County receiving a green “low” ranking for the second week of the “COVID-19 Activity Level Report” generated by the New Jersey Department of Health.
All seven of the norther counties: Sussex, Morris, Passaic, Warren, Bergen, Essex and Hudson were ranked low again for the second week. The remaining 14 counties are ranked yellow “moderate.”
In light of the low activity ranking, Sussex County Freeholder Josh Hertzberg wrote to state legislators advocating for a regional reopening for businesses, especially restaurants that were three days away from reopening only to have that options taken away in July by the governor.
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