UT Schools Get Free Purifiers to Combat Poor Air Quality

Brandi O’Brien, Senior Program Coordinator for UPHE on the Utah Department of Health and Human Services’ free air purifier program, spoke with Public News Service about the success of the program.
The program was federally funded to put air purifiers in schools and state licensed early childhood education centers. UPHE contacted every school and district in the state to spread awareness, and ended up with purifiers in 75% of K-12 schools and nearly 60% of early childhood education centers.
“We’ve heard a lot of feedback from school staff and faculty about what a difference the air purifiers have made,” she said. “We’ve even heard it’s helped improve morale in the schools, especially between the teachers who kind of really understand the positive impacts of the air purifiers.“
“We’ve already heard back from a handful of schools that think that they’ve [air purifiers] helped reduce illnesses in the classrooms and keep students in the classrooms as they are not getting as sick, so they can reduce those absent rates and keep students in school,” she said.
Cory Lunt, director of Miss Billie’s Kid Kampus Pre-K and Daycare Center, was quoted in Fox13 coverage of the program, “It almost seemed too good to be true. If nothing else, it makes us feel like we’re doing something proactive,” said Lunt, “We’re actively trying to do something that is better in the environment for our children.”
Find and listen to the full piece on PNS here.
See the coverage on Utah Public Radio.
Click here for more information on the program.
