Deadline this Friday for Utah schools to get free air purifiers

This week is the last chance for schools to take part in the Utah Department of Health and Human Services’ free air purifier program for schools and state-licensed daycares. UPHE has been coordinating the program to get clean air into classrooms for over a year now and has had success with over 70% of the state’s K-12 schools and 60% of early education centers.

The program is federally funded to allow for portable HEPA purifiers to be in every classroom and common area of every school in the state. It was initially offered to K-12 schools and expanded to state-licensed early education centers. The funding even expands to cover up to 6 years of replacement filters for the units. 

A KSL article last week reminded residents that the funds are set to expire soon. UPHE board member, Dr. Sean Slack, was quoted in the article, “We’ve seen benefits not just from a health standpoint of viral illnesses, for example, but also with cognitive improvement overall.” Dr. Slack helped encourage his children’s schools to participate. 

“They don’t require any invasive measures, no masking, anything like that,” Slack said. “They can just sit quietly in the back of the room and do their thing. And so, from a cost standpoint for an individual as well as the school system, it’s essentially nothing. And it provides a lot of improvement for everyone.”

With the deadline to order this Friday July 21st, we encourage you to reach out to your child’s school and express your desire for them to have purifiers. UPHE has reached out to every school in the state to make them aware of the opportunity.

Air purifiers have well studied and documented benefits to students and staff. Pollution affects brain function and development. Cleaner air in schools has been associated with increased test scores, improved health outcomes and even improved behavioral outcomes.  

Find more information on the program and reach out for purifiers here.