Student with health issues stayed home after CBE refused HEPA filter

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The mother of a student with complex medical needs and at risk of severe consequences from COVID-19 failed to convince public school officials to put a HEPA filter in her classroom.

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And now, as cases of the highly transmissible variant of Omicron multiply across the province and in school communities, Fuyo Watanabe is choosing to keep his son at home for fear he will fall seriously ill.

“Families with disabled children, we’ve been doing all of this for a long time, using hand sanitizer, doing everything we can to make sure our kids don’t get sick,” she said.

“But this situation is just too much. It is simply not acceptable.

Watanabe’s eight-year-old son Ryan attends Grade 3 at Emily Follensbee School, a unique Calgary Board of Education program for students with high needs, many of whom have complex medical conditions. Ryan is deaf, blind, confined to a wheelchair, and suffers from several other health conditions, including severe allergies that can affect his lungs and respiratory system.

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Ryan’s doctor recommended that he install a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter in his classroom, as it would significantly improve the air quality.

Watanabe has been asking for it since October, arguing that the filter would improve air quality throughout the classroom and reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 for all students.

But while Emily Follensbee’s principal and teachers have lent their support, Watanabe said, the CBE administration would not allow the school to go ahead with a HEPA filter.

“The school was really great, they just couldn’t get it approved.

“And the reasons for the CBE were ludicrous, as if there was a risk of tripping or a risk of electrical fire,” she said.

“It’s like they keep hiding behind this equality argument, that if a class gets a HEPA filter, then they all have to.

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“But we know they can’t afford it, so they make up other reasons. It has become so political.

CBE said on Wednesday they were still working with Watanabe to try to find a solution, adding that ventilation was improved at Emily Follensbee in December with the installation of MERV-13 filters.

“It is also important to note that the Alberta Health Services have regularly inspected CBE schools, including the Emily Follensbee School, over the past two school years due to the pandemic to ensure full compliance. government directives, ”CBE spokesperson Megan Geyer said.

Still, air quality advocates have argued that HEPA filters are superior to MERV-13 filters at capturing the smaller virus-sized particles.

Last fall, as Alberta faced a catastrophic fourth wave of COVID-19 and hospitals were overrun with patients, parents at Collingwood Elementary School raised funds to install HEPA filters in all school classrooms.

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CBE officials said at the time that it was a matter of fairness and that plugging in HEPA filters in each classroom could represent too much electrical load.

Dany Breton, superintendent of CBE facilities, also argued that HEPA filters are not needed in CBE classrooms which have mechanical ventilation, which is also very effective in attenuating airborne particles.

Meanwhile, Calgary schools continue to fight rising absenteeism rates among staff and students as the Omicron variant rises across the province, reaching 61,229 active cases and approaching a positivity rate of 40. %.

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On Wednesday, the CBE recorded 1,289 staff absences, including 783 absent teachers with 548 replaced by substitutes, as well as 506 absent support staff, with 394 positions replaced by casual staff. Wednesday’s total is again an increase from Tuesday, when 1,240 staff were absent, and Monday, when 1,117 staff were unable to enter.

Another CBE school upgraded two of its classrooms to online learning due to high truancy rates, bringing CBE’s total to three schools with seven classes learning from home.

The absenteeism rate for CBE students is 19.3 percent, a 2 percent increase from the 17 percent reported earlier in the week.

Calgary’s Catholic School District reported 102 staff were on “health leave” on Wednesday compared to 97 on Tuesday. Officials explained that Tuesday’s earlier data was inflated, to 297, which included any “vacancies” or multiple roles staff may have, such as teaching a classroom, but also teaching physical education to multiple people. classes.

However, 95 of 117 schools reported a student absenteeism rate of 10% or more, an increase from 88 schools on Tuesday. CCDS will run an online course if 25% or more of the students are absent. So far, two CCDS classrooms are home-learning.

eferguson@postmedia.com