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Parents urge Ithaca board to allow air purifiers in classrooms to reduce illness and chronic absenteeism
Summary
Parents and community members told the Ithaca City School District board on Feb. 25 to permit air purifiers in classrooms to curb respiratory illness and chronic absenteeism, citing higher absence rates for students of color and students with disabilities and studies linking improved ventilation to better health and learning.
Parents and other community members told the Ithaca City School District Board of Education on Feb. 25 that the district should allow air purifiers in classrooms to reduce respiratory illness and chronic absenteeism.
The speakers, most of them parents of students at South Hill Elementary, said district chronic absenteeism rose to 25 percent in 2024 from 16 percent in 2019 and that rates are higher for students with disabilities (36 percent), economically disadvantaged students (nearly 40 percent), and Black students (47 percent). They cited studies and professional guidance — including EPA reviews and ASHRAE guidance — linking improved ventilation and filtration to better student and staff health and learning, and asked the board to permit classroom air purifiers and to consider a pilot at South Hill.
Parents described individual illnesses and school disruptions. Casey McGrath said his second grader developed pneumonia after contracting the flu at school and missed 10 days, including family events.…
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