Coverage of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Schools, Colleges and Universities


Indoor Air Quality

Your School’s Unseen Health Threat: Indoor Air Quality

With the start of a new school year, the health & wellness of students, teachers, and school district employees has become—more than ever—a top priority and concern.

ESSER Funds HVAC Upgrades

Healthy Schools

How ESSER Funds Can Help with HVAC Upgrades

The importance of HVAC units in schools was brought to the forefront when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in the early parts of 2020. While vaccines became one option for combating the virus, the need for increased ventilation and filtration became an area of focus for many school districts.

young girl attending class on her computer

Campus Technology

How Screen-Sharing Technology Can Transform Any Learning Environment

We educators had our work cut out for us in the spring of 2020; we rose to the challenge and found ways to connect with our kids, no matter where they were. With no choice but to use whatever we had available, we dug deep into our resources to help our students (and ourselves) survive distance learning. Amazingly, what we did served our purposes not only for the duration of remote teaching, but changed our classroom practices for the better now that students are back in the classroom.

Schools In Focus: Talking Campus Security with Mitch McKinley

Podcast

Schools In Focus: Creating Healthy Schools by Improving IEQ

Today’s guest is Kristin Moore, the Vice President of Market Segments at Armstrong World Industries. We'll talk about the importance of indoor environmental quality in creating and maintaining healthy learning spaces for kids.

Healthy Schools

Orlando High School Installs UV Angel Clean Air Units

Chancery High School in Orlando, Fla., recently installed a new clean air solution from pathogen control technology company UV Angel. According to a news release, the school installed 59 UV Angel Clean Air units.

Tips for Overcoming the Supply Chain Crisis

Campus Security

How Schools Can Combat the Supply Chain Crisis

The unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaps in the supply chain but also provided opportunities to strengthen it. We’ve realized that many K–12 school districts and higher ed institutions have outdated models for supply chain management and procurement, and they lack the technological platforms and processes that other industries have put into place.

Healthy Schools

Schools See Vital Protections with Antimicrobial Copper

As the pandemic continues to affect the status of education, challenging school districts to develop plans that protect the need to learn, antimicrobial copper can play an effective role in a lasting strategy to combat the spread of infection.

Indoor Air Quality

Spring Cleaning Your Facility: Understanding Indoor Air Quality

Indoor air quality technology is complicated, mostly because you can't see it. There remains a lot of confusion about expectations of these devices and what they truly are (and aren’t) capable of. Here’s what you want to consider before installing these devices in your facility.

Expert Viewpoint

Don't Hobble Your Building's Health

A history of deferred maintenance could take the wind out of improved ventilation strategies.

Policy & Funding

White House Launches Clean Air in Buildings Challenge

The White House launched a new program Thursday, calling on schools, colleges and universities to work to improve indoor air quality. In conjunction with the launch, the Environmental Protection Agency also released new guidelines for best practices for improving indoor air quality and reducing the spread of COVID-19 further.



Student learning loss recovery

Healthy Schools

Four Ways to Recover Pandemic Learning Loss

The learning loss stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic begs the question: How can schools and districts help students recover with innovative literacy strategies? Here are four steps for recovering learning loss by focusing on literacy, fun and parent engagement.

OhmniClean UV-C Disinfection Robot

Healthy Schools

OhmniLabs Debuts UV-C Cleaning Robot

Robotics company OhmniLabs recently debuted an autonomous cleaning robot that uses UV-C light to disinfect spaces. OhmniClean is capable of disinfecting a 3,000-square-foot space in less than 15 minutes and was designed for use in schools, hospitals, hotels and other spaces that require deep cleaning of high-touch surfaces.

North Texas Districts Extend Long Weekend Amid COVID, Staff Shortages

Several North Texas school districts cancelled school on both ends of the long Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, citing staff shortages and a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Hand Sanitizer Storage Poses Safety Problems

The widespread use of hand sanitizing stations requires educational institutions to keep a bulk supply of hand sanitizing fluid on hand. And finding a location on campus to keep gallons of hand sanitizing fluid has proved to be a logistical challenge from a fire and life safety inspections perspective.

Schools In Focus: Talking Campus Security with Mitch McKinley

Podcast

Schools In Focus: Creating Worry-Free Environments in Education

This episode’s guests are Elizabeth Bonner, design director for education and hard surface, and David Dembowitz, senior vice president of sales North America, both with Mohawk Group. We’ll discuss choosing the right flooring solutions and the impact it can have on creating healthier, worry-free spaces throughout the lifecycle of the installation. We’ll touch on topics like creating productive spaces for students & staff, the impact of COVID-19 on cleanliness standards, choosing the right flooring solution, and how to navigate the flooring decision making process. This episode is sponsored by Mohawk Group.

Teen Who Was Suspended Over Mask Mandate Arrested on Trespassing Charges

A 16-year-old student at Laramie High School in Laramie, Wyo., was arrested and led away from her school in handcuffs on Thursday, Oct. 7. Junior Grace Smith said in an interview that she was arrested for trespassing after receiving a suspension for refusing to follow the school’s mask mandate and then refusing to leave school grounds.

Healthy Schools

East Central College HVAC Upgrade Covered by COVID Relief Funds

A $1.4 million HVAC upgrade at Missouri's East Central College, paid for by federal COVID-relief funds, is expected to mitigate the transmission of viruses in several campus buildings. The work was performed by Johnson Controls as part of its "OpenBlue" healthy buildings program.

person using calculator across from someone using a computer

How Schools Can Maximize COVID Relief Funds

ESSER and EANS funds are designed to help schools reopen quickly and safely, as well as address the months of significant learning loss by U.S. students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Only now are experts beginning to understand the full scope of learning loss brought on by a year-plus of the pandemic – and initial reports are worrying.

Schools Reopen with Federal Dollars

Editor's Note

The Slow Return to Normalcy

unbrella sheilding off viruses

Keys to Comprehensive Health Awareness in Your Building

COVID-19 and many other viruses are thought to spread mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets and aerosols in the air. Studies suggest that emissions from people can span a room and be pulled into air circulation systems in just a few seconds. A strong air-monitoring and air-management strategy can make the difference between a healthy environment and one in which disease easily spreads.

adult helping child wash their hands

It's Everyone's Role To Keep Our Schools Healthy, Safe and Open

Standard hygiene practices, like proper handwashing, are more important than ever.

Grants

U.S. Department of Education Announces New Grant Program

The U.S. Department of Education announced this week that it is establishing a new grant program to provide funding to school districts that have been penalized for implementing safety measures against COVID-19.

COVID-19 and Schools

Back to School: 3 Key Risks Worth Evaluating

Across the country, K–12 school administrators, teachers and staff are preparing to return to school in the midst of continued uncertainty. As COVID-19 continues to evolve, conflicting positions on mask mandates and safety requirements have spilled out of school board and PTA meetings into the national discourse, complicating decision-making at every level. The ongoing pandemic has created new risks, and elevated others — all of which pose challenges to K–12 operations.

Schools In Focus: Talking Campus Security with Mitch McKinley

Podcast

Schools In Focus: The Future of the Physical Campus

This episode’s guest is Benjamin Strain, Higher Education Design Leader for DLR Group. He's here to discuss an ongoing DLR research initiative called "The Evolution of Campus," which involves interviews and outreach to higher education institutions to help them navigate the pandemic, return to campus, and explore new spatial and design requirements to meet the needs of faculty and students. He reveals some common themes among all three rounds of research (so far) and addresses the question on everyone's mind: "What’s the future of the physical campus?"

Health & Wellness

Survey Reveals College Students’ Mental Health Concerns

A new survey from the National Society of High School Scholars conducted among incoming and matriculating college students revealed that almost half (44.1%) anticipate dealing with mental health issues in the coming semester, either their own or those of people around them.

Healthy Schools

Students Fall Behind on “Routine-but-Critical” Vaccinations

A news release from the Learning First Alliance suggests that one in five children missed receiving routine vaccines during the pandemic.

Stimulus Funding and School Infrastructure

COVID-19 and Schools

How Stimulus Funding Can Tackle School Infrastructure Updates

As schools and universities prepare for the return of students and faculty after nearly a year of remote learning, many are faced with growing concerns around how to keep facilities safe in the post-pandemic world. This is doubly true when considering that crucial HVAC and building management systems (BMS) are often outdated and in need of replacement.

Q & A with the Editor

Smart Lockers Now and Beyond the Pandemic

Campus operations of all kinds were severely impacted by the pandemic, as were many of the habits and expectations of students, parents, faculty and staff. Some of those changes, it appears, will outlast the pandemic — including advances in the way packages are delivered and tracked on campus.

COVID-19 and Schools

CDC Recommends “Universal Indoor Masking” in Schools

In response to the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19, the CDC once again updated its mask-wearing guidelines this week. It recommends "universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools."

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