OUR ADVOCACY
RENOVATE MASSACHUSET TS SCHOOLS NOW By: Business Manager Bob Butler
As more and more children return to school in person, a critical question looms: how do we ensure our schools are safe for students and teachers? Getting staff vaccinated, maintaining social distancing, and wearing masks are all key to students’ safe return to schools. What has also become clear is the importance of the structural integrity of our school buildings themselves. Over the past year, COVID-19 has further exposed major cracks in our nation’s infrastructure. Many of the buildings we lived and worked in were not prepared for a global pandemic. Massachusetts is home to some of the oldest educational institutions in the country and in turn, some of the oldest educational buildings in the country. Nearly two-thirds of Boston’s 127 schools were built before World War II, and less than half of those have been fully renovated since then. According to a report by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, 47.9% of school buildings were determined to need repair. To return to school safely, the Commonwealth must immediately invest in state-of-the-art facilities, including up-to-date air quality safety systems. We know we must all stay vigilant to protect against another surge of the disease — up-to-date air ventilation systems can help keep us healthy and prevent the spread. We know that what many teachers were forced to do this past winter — opening a window to keep air flowing in the classroom — is simply a bandaid on a bigger problem: the inferior air quality of our schools. Prioritizing air quality improvements in our schools this summer will put us in a good position to safely welcome all students back to the classroom this fall. There are currently four proposed bills that address the air quality in our schools on Beacon Hill. If passed, these bills would begin to provide much-needed improvements to our
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state’s public school buildings and implement measures that would further ensure a safe return to in-person schooling. The bills, which have broad, strong support from over 35 co-sponsors, call for installing and monitoring improved filtration systems in our public school buildings, ensuring a minimum of four air changes per hour of fresh air. Building trades workers have already proven they can get the job done in times of crisis. At the beginning of the pandemic, experienced union workers converted the Boston Convention Center into a field hospital for COVID-19 patients in a matter of days, including installing high-quality air ventilation systems. Just as we rose to that challenge, we can rise to this one to keep students safer for generations to come. A year of remote schooling has shown us that kids need to be in the classroom with their teachers and friends. There’s no substitute for that. Alongside other health and safety measures, this legislation can support safe, supportive learning environments for all, from preschoolers to college students to paraprofessionals and professors. And by passing this legislation as soon as possible, we can also create thousands of much-needed jobs, and capitalize on industry-leading expertise from our state’s union tradesmen and women. We can begin to heal from a year of tragedy and implement the changes we need to improve the health and safety of our children. Our students deserve top-quality facilities to match their education, to learn and thrive and grow. We owe it to our future and our children’s future.
