UFT President Michael Mulgrew, greeting teachers today on the first day back to school for DOE employees, announced that the UFT had purchased 70 classroom carbon dioxide (CO2) monitors, giving UFT staffers the ability to independently check the carbon dioxide levels in occupied classrooms.

He also announced that training is underway for every school’s Building Response Team, the group of teachers and other personnel charged with helping oversee each school’s adaptation to the challenges of COVID.

Mr. Mulgrew said, “We want everyone back, and we want everyone safe. The delta variant means that our job is tougher, but last year schools were the safest places in the city, and we are going to do everything we can to ensure that the same thing is true this fall.”

“Staffers on each Building Response Team will be working with the principal and the custodian to establish procedures for student arrival, movements in school and dismissal, along with overseeing social distancing, mask wearing, and other COVID compliance.”

CO2 monitoring

CO2 monitors do NOT detect the level of the COVID, or any other virus transmitted through the air. They are designed to measure the effectiveness of a room’s ventilation, one of the layers of prevention — along with masks, testing and social distancing — against the spread of COVID.

The higher the CO2 concentration, the slower the rate of air exchange (and — in a room that includes COVID carriers — the higher the potential risk of infection.)

According to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) guidelines, classroom air should be completely changed five to six times per hour, with fresh or filtered pushing out old air (and any virus particles that may be in that air).

The monitors can measure CO2 in concentrations of 0-5,000 parts per million. Repeated monitor readings of more than 1,000-1,200 CO2 parts per million would indicate that room ventilation was insufficient and should trigger an investigation.

Mr. Mulgrew said, “Ventilation is a key strategy against the virus, and if monitors show that a room’s ventilation isn’t enough, the principal needs to either find a way to improve the air exchange rate or to reduce the number of people in that classroom.”

The UFT’s CO2 monitors will be available to district personnel, the union’s borough safety teams, and at the request of individual chapter leaders, with a priority for schools where overcrowding exists.

The device — an M2000 2nd Generation Air Quality Monitor — is made by Temtop Inc. This is the same model that the DOE has provided many school custodians, making it possible for teachers and custodians to compare results. The handheld devices retail for about $200.