The McAllen Independent School District Board of Trustees gave its blessing to an air purification project expected to cost at least half-a-million dollars Monday, although the project faced significantly more criticism than when the board first discussed it in February.
The two-phase project is expected to cost somewhere between $560,000 and $610,000, which can be paid for with federal funds. The plan calls for installing upwards of 1,500 bipolar ionization air purification systems at district facilities meant to ward off COVID-19, among other viruses.
Although the board appeared largely receptive to the idea when they heard about it in February, they were critical that the project was not brought before them despite board approval technically not being required.
Monday’s discussion was decidedly more heated.
Trustees against the purifier project cast doubt on its efficacy and on whether they justified the price tag.
Trustees in favor of the project voiced their confidence in the purifiers as an additional layer of defense against COVID-19, or at least in the possibility of the purifiers adding that layer of defense. One likened it to a gamble worth taking, and another said that if it kept even a single new case of COVID-19 from spreading on campus, it was worth the money.
Engineer Trey Murray with Halff Associates responded to questions from the board Monday, saying he believed the purifiers were ultimately a good product, although installing them in schools on this scale wasn’t the norm prior to the pandemic.
“Is it absolutely the saving grace and will it end COVID like the vaccine will? No,” he said. “Is it a viable component of an approach to enhance your indoor air quality, be it COVID or anything else? I would suggest that it would be.”
Murray said that in the long run, the purifiers should help control the spread of other viruses on campus and improve air quality. They’ll even make locker rooms smell nicer.
Trustees Danny Vela and Larry Esparza weren’t convinced the buy was the right move.
“Do we need to spend half-a million to a million dollars of taxpayer money on a system that may or may not be a solution? I don’t think so,” Vela said.
Vela asked several questions about the purifiers’ efficacy, wondering aloud why they weren’t implemented previously if they worked. Vaccines, Vela said, are what will end the pandemic.
Vela added concerns over the cost of the purifiers ballooning over their estimated expense and voiced monetary worries that were echoed by Trustee Esparza.
Esparza worried the purifiers were never marketed as large-scale, virus-fighting infrastructure previously, and expressed concern over whether suppliers were trying to capitalize on the COVID-19 panic.
“We have an obligation to our taxpayers also to make sure that we’re spending their tax dollars wisely,” he said. “And not having any research that I see behind it just kind of makes me leary, purchasing something and getting caught up in that pandemic frenzy that everyone may be in right now.”
Trustees in favor of the purifiers were more convinced by claims of their ability to fight viruses. Tony Forina said he’d observed purification systems’ effectiveness against the coronavirus firsthand, and Marco Suarez said if they’ll help allay fears from teachers, parents and students, the purifiers are worth the money.
“If this is one added layer that the school district can provide and the funding’s available for it, I think my opinion is to go with the staff’s recommendation,” he said. “If we can prevent one person — one student, one staff member — from contracting COVID, then we’ve done our job, along with the other added layers.”
Noting that he’d been informed the district would be able to vaccinate all of its staff by week’s end, Board President Conrado Alvarado echoed Suarez’s argument.
“For me, it’s just as simple as this is just another layered approach, which has been discussed. Because I know there’s a lot of teachers out there right now that are very scared to be in our buildings right now, and we’ve just got to do everything,” he said. “So I’d rather roll the dice that this is just part of the solution — it’s not the solution — but it’s something hopefully that will help. And I know it’s a big figure, but one case of COVID could be another $100,000 if someone’s in the hospital for an extended period of time, and we’re self-funded insurance, so the way I look at it, anything we can do to help minimize that, I’m in favor.”
After over an hour of debate, the conversation veered toward historic district financial deficits. Trustee Debbie Crane-Aliseda moved to call the question, cutting off discussion and moving the board to a vote.
The board voted 5-2 in favor of the purifiers.
