How Healthy Is the Air in Schools? – Inside Sources

Millions of American children spend time in classrooms that are often inadequately designed and maintained, and that school districts spend $78 billion annually to operate.

In the classrooms where students learn, there is one thing most parents and some school administrations probably haven’t checked: the indoor air quality. After all, this is the air the children will breathe until the summer break. Poor air quality is a surprising omission for educational institutions that are responsible for providing a healthy environment for children. Growing evidence suggests that indoor air quality is integral to student health and learning.

The Government Accountability Office’s new nationwide review of public schools provides worrisome findings and the clearest warning yet. During the 2024-25 school year, 36 percent of school districts reported isolated ventilation or poor indoor air quality problems in at least one school; an additional 13 percent of school districts described such problems as chronic.

Nearly half of districts had significant facility operations problems of some harmful nature. The government oversight agency found schools with unacceptable air quality, including stuffy and humid classrooms, malfunctioning windows, mold, bad odors and inadequate filtration and ventilation.

GAO estimates that overall facility operational problems forced 19 percent of districts to cancel school for at least a day, affecting 2 million students and costing 3.5 million days of instruction.

Evidence indicates that ventilation and other indoor environmental conditions can suppress student attention, learning, attendance and academic performance.

“The global research community has gathered extensive information and evidence to demonstrate that the school building’s (indoor air quality) and environmental factors are foundational to student success — enough evidence to know that we can’t afford to neglect the conditions of our schools,” said a report by Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

“School building conditions such as ventilation, indoor air quality, thermal comfort, lighting and views, and acoustics and noise play an important role in a student’s ability to focus, process new information, and feel engaged at school,” it found.

Despite this evidence, continuous air quality assessments and monitoring are far from standard practice nationally. Even Boston — one of a handful of jurisdictions that requires it — has struggled to turn monitoring into consistent oversight. A 2025 Boston University study found substantial gaps in schools’ systematic indoor-air-quality monitoring and management. The data showed that ventilation conditions could vary substantially among classrooms, even within the same building.

Those monitoring gaps and air quality in schools are prompting a response from Congress.

The bipartisan Indoor Air Quality and Healthy Schools Act of 2025 would give the Environmental Protection Agency a larger role in helping schools tackle the problem.

The Indoor Air Quality and Healthy Schools Act, which is pending in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, would establish science-based voluntary guidelines for indoor contaminants, providing schools with technical assistance, financial assistance if necessary and training for building assessment, monitoring, ventilation and filtration. It would require the EPA to help develop guidance for schools and periodically assess progress.

The proposal is supported by a diverse set of health and education advocacy groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Federation of Teachers, the American Lung Association, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America and the National Education Association. It’s also supported by several trade associations, including the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association, which is responsible for shaping, installing and maintaining the HVAC systems that contribute to positive health and educational outcomes.

The federal legislative approach is sensible and underscores that school administrators need federal assistance to do the right thing.

Parents shouldn’t have to wonder whether a child’s classroom provides a healthy learning environment, especially necessary air filtration and adequate ventilation.

The first rule of infrastructure is simple — you can’t manage what you don’t measure.

Schools already measure attendance, test scores and spending down to the dollar. They should also learn more about what is happening in the air, too.