For a rare time since the start of the pandemic, an air purifier will be installed in a French-speaking public school with the approval of school administrators. According to what The duty learned, the Center de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM) has just given reason to an immunocompromised teacher who had been asking for an air purifier in his class for six months, on the recommendation of his doctor.
Teacher Michel Stringer of Sophie-Barat High School in Montreal has won a long battle to get an air purifier in his classroom. He is one of the first teachers in the French-speaking public network to be entitled to this equipment, which is nevertheless deemed “inadequate” by the Ministry of Education, according to expert advice. The teacher, who suffers from a lung disease, will also have access to N95 masks and a plexiglass barrier in front of his desk.
The CSSDM has resolved to authorize the installation of air purifiers “in certain exceptional situations”, confirms to the To have to Alain Perron, spokesperson for the largest school service center in Quebec.
Joined by The duty, Michel Stringer was surprised to have had to fight for months to obtain the accommodation measures recommended by his doctor. He will still have to wait, because the promised measures are not yet in place. He had been exempt from school attendance since the start of the Omicron wave in January 2022, but had to work remotely due to his pulmonary fibrosis.
Michel Stringer, who has been a French teacher for 25 years at the Sophie-Barat school, wanted to come back to school with his students. His doctor has authorized his return to class at the start of the school year this fall, on the condition that he be provided with N95 masks and that his room be equipped with an air purifier and a plexiglass barrier. The CSSDM initially refused to allow him to return to school, despite the shortage of teachers, then allowed him to return, but without an N95 mask or an air purifier. He can finally come back with the measures recommended by his doctor.
“It’s strange that the service center has changed its mind, but has not announced it publicly, reacted Michel Stringer. Immunosuppressed people who work in education have the right to know that they have the opportunity to come back with protective measures recommended by their doctor. »
Ventilation first
The CSSDM stresses that the specialists first recommend the adoption of adequate ventilation (mechanical, by opening windows or by air exchangers).
“However, in certain exceptional situations, it is possible to use air purifiers, provided that their installation is compliant and validated by a ventilation expert,” explains Alain Perron.
He recalls that a pilot project led to the installation of an air purifier at Saint-Émile elementary school, in the Rosemont district. The dental assistance program of the École des métiers des Faubourgs-de-Montréal also obtained an air purifier “to meet the requirements of the Order of Dentists”.
The service center says it has acquired a number of air purifiers despite the unfavorable opinion of the Ministry of Education. Some private schools and English public schools have also authorized air purifiers.
The Ministry’s position “has not changed,” insists spokesperson Esther Chouinard. “It follows the recommendations of the Ventilation Expert Committee set up by the Ministry of Health and Social Services which indicated, in its report published in January 2021, not to recommend the use of air purifiers in classrooms since their use has a very reduced efficiency in large spaces occupied by several people,” she adds.