Sonoma County Office of Education announces air quality closure guidelines

From the new guidelines: “If the Air Quality Index (AQI) is listed at 275 or above, districts may cancel classes.”|

In an effort to clarify school district closure policies across the county, on Tuesday, Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools Steve Herrington met with superintendents from the county's school districts to establish a set of guidelines to help schools determine when to close due to air quality concerns.

The guidelines state:

On days with questionable air quality, the county's 40 superintendents shall check purpleair.com at 5 a.m. If the Air Quality Index (AQI) is listed at 275 or above, districts may cancel classes. The superintendent will notify the county superintendent, its district staff and families.

“We recognize that parents have a range of concerns when it comes to school closures, from the safety of their children when air quality is bad, to the difficulty finding childcare when school is closed,” said Herrington in a statement. “We recognize the same concerns apply to school staff. School districts sought to balance these concerns along with the best guidance available from the EPA, CDC, and county health department when agreeing on these guidelines.

Herrington stated that the new county guidelines also reflect the fact that air quality is most often better at school than at home. Most schools have high-quality air filtration systems, while many homes do not.

A letter from County Superintendent Steve Herrington explaining the guidelines: https://www.scoe.org/files/Air_Quality_Guidelines_Community_Member_Letter.pdf

The guidelines: https://www.scoe.org/files/Sonoma_County_Schools_Air_Quality_Guidelines.pdf

A Q&A from SCOE explaining its decision-making process was released on Thursday:

https://www.scoe.org/files/Air_Quality_Guidelines_Community_Member_Letter_Follow_Up_11-14-18.pdf

Update: A new Care2 petition is calling on the Petaluma School District to lower its air quality index guideline, which is used to determine whether school will be canceled, from 275 to 180. The Care2 petition has gathered nearly 7,000 signatures.www.thepetitionsite.com/967/779/074/

Email Lorna at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.

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