Upper East Side Schools Have Ventilation Problems, Report Shows

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — As ventilation inspectors begin visiting 1,700 New York City public schools to determine whether their facilities are safe enough to allow students to return to class next month, a new report shows that more than 1,000 of the city's schools have documented ventilation problems.

The report, published Wednesday by the education news site Chalkbeat, compiled inspection records of school buildings across the city between fall 2018 through summer 2019. The report found that at least 1,030 of them had problems with either the air supply system — which brings fresh air inside the building — or the exhaust system, which brings stale air outside.

On the Upper East Side, at least 11 schools had at least one deficiency in their ventilation systems, according to the inspection reports. Another round of inspections was conducted this summer but has not been released publicly. (Read the full list below).

Good ventilation lowers the risk of transmitting the coronavirus through the air, and Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that inspectors had already been deployed, checking every classroom in every school to ensure that windows can open and the supply and exhaust fans are working properly before students return Sept. 10.

But the new report shows the immense scale of the problem, and backs up claims by some teachers and principals that their school buildings were poorly ventilated and ill-equipped to welcome back students during the pandemic.

Upper East Side K-12 schools with ventilation problems:

Central Park East High School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

Ella Baker School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

JHS 167 Robert F. Wagner

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

Life Sciences Secondary School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 0
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

Manhattan International High School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

PS 290 Manhattan New School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: school does not have a supply fan system
• Report

PS 6 Lillie D. Blake

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

Talent Unlimited High School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

The Judith S. Kaye High School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: school does not have a supply fan system
• Report

Urban Academy Laboratory High School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

Vanguard High School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

Read more and view Chalkbeat's searchable database here.

Patch reporter Gus Saltonstall contributed to this report.