The McAllen Independent School District is moving toward spending at least half a million dollars on air purification systems intended to eliminate COVID-19 and other viruses, a majority or all of which could be paid for with federal funds.
Ruben Treviño, executive directive for facilities and maintenance operations, told the board during a recent meeting the first phase of the project would cost about $380,000 and the second phase between $150,000 and $250,000.
According to a statement from the district, phase 1 of the project would qualify for federal funding through the Department of Education, Education Stabilization Fund of the CARES Act, which includes Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding.
Phase two would also qualify for ESSER monies, the district said, although it’s not entirely clear how funding for the project will shake out.
The district “is still holding internal discussions and looking at all available options to make the best funding determination possible,” the statement said.
Treviño said the district could issue a purchase order for the first phase as early as Tuesday and units should be delivered within two weeks. He said in-house installation should be straightforward and the district should be able to have the units operational at a rate of 40 to 50 per day.
“It’s pretty much a compact unit, self-cleaning, that requires no maintenance. It’s a bipolar ionization system that will allow for the installation where other products will not fit,” he said.
The district is planning on purchasing two types of units from Global Plasma Solutions, one with a larger capacity and one with a smaller capacity.
“We decided that we were not going to go with anything that could not provide us with the actual data that shows what we needed them for,” Treviño said.
According to Treviño, testing data provided by the company indicated that as 84.2% of the COVID-19 virus was inactivated by the purifiers within 15 minutes and 99.4% of the virus was inactivated within half an hour. He said the purifiers are also effective against other viruses, like staph and the flu.
“In the long run, this will help our attendance in every other aspect of it,” he said.
The 990 units that make up the first phase should cover larger congregation areas at the district’s elementary, middle and high schools, Treviño said, while the second phase will target smaller areas in the district’s larger secondary schools.
Treviño described the units as “no maintenance” and “self-cleaning,” adding that pricing has dramatically improved for the products over the last six months.
Although administration indicated the units were going to be bought through a purchasing cooperative and did not require a greenlight from the board, trustees were critical of their lack of input on the buy.
“I just wish that purchases of that amount would come to the board for a vote, or for at least a ratification if you would, please,” Trustee Danny Vela said.
Board President Conrado Alvarado asked that the project be listed on the board’s first March meeting.
Despite the call for transparency, trustees voiced their support for the initiative and their desire to publicize it.
“This is very important for everyone in our school district, and that the sooner we get this up and going, the more sense of security not only our staff have but our parents have in sending their kids to school,” Trustee Marco Suarez said.
