Several Ohio school districts plan to use Covid-19 relief funds to upgrade ventilation systems

The Ohio Department of Education   said several school districts in the state are planning to spend about $500 million of the state's federal Covid relief money to upgrade ventilation systems. 

The districts are upgrading ventilation systems in hopes of slowing the spread of airborne diseases such as Covid-19 among others, reports The Dayton Daily News. 

Dayton Public, Huber Heights and Centerville City, three of the largest school districts in Montgomery County, have plans or have already used federal Covid-19 funds to upgrade their HVAC systems. Northmont City schools also upgraded HVAC systems using Covid-19 money.

Centerville schools spent about $3.7 million between federal Covid-19 dollars and its own money to upgrade its HVAC systems in the buildings between 2020 and 2021. Centerville schools received more than $9 million in federal Covid-19 relief, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

Other school districts are still working on plans to upgrade their building’s HVAC. Dayton district administrators expect to present a plan to its school board sometime in the spring to use $13.5 million of its federal Covid-19 relief dollars on upgrading HVAC systems including replacing outdated systems. Dayton Public received more than $141 million in Covid-19 relief aid.

Northmont City schools spent $280,031 in relief funds to upgrade HVAC at six of the district’s buildings. The district got about $8.3 million overall in Covid-19 relief money, according to ODE.

Huber Heights also plans to use some of its federal money on HVAC and building upgrades but does not have a specific amount budgeted yet.