JAY – Most of the recommendations by air quality experts have been implemented at the elementary school.

The only recommendation not completed but expected to be finished during school vacation, is changing a few more water damaged ceiling tiles.

The latter recommendation was not proposed due to air quality but to prevent mold from developing.

State air quality specialists were called in last month after 47 staff members and students complained of sickness symptoms in the first-grade wing on Jan 16. Symptoms had been building during the week of frigid temperatures with high winds. Two exhaust fans circulating air in classrooms were replaced. Maintenance Supervisor Sue Weston said Siemens, the school system’s mechanical ventilation contractor, has determined that the height of the boiler stack was within the guidelines.

The contractor also determined that there is efficient make-up air provided in the boiler room, she said.

There is also enough water in the traps in the floor drains to prevent back drafting of sewer gases up through floor drains, she said.

The mechanical ventilation systems in the classrooms are operating according to recommendations established by The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers to promote fresh outside air exchange and air circulation, she said.

The society states that fresh outside air should be supplied at a rate of 15 cubic feet per minute per person for school classrooms in order to achieve acceptable air quality.

Classroom teachers were advised they could open windows, if they felt it necessary, to provide more fresh air.

Weston said she walked through the school Thursday and only one teacher had a window opened.

The controls of the air system also proved to be operating fine, Weston said.

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