Corona in the classroom?
Not a nice idea.
The city of Wolfratshausen wants to better protect students and is installing ventilation systems in two schools.
The school on Hammerschmiedweg is missing from the decision.
Wolfratshausen - How can schools best protect children?
Many political bodies have been grappling with this question since the beginning of the corona pandemic.
The building committee of the city council made a decision at its meeting on Wednesday evening: decentralized ventilation systems will be installed in the school buildings in Waldram and Weidach.
At the school on Hammerschmiedweg too - but only later.
The municipality is hoping for grants, but the retrofits will not be cheap.
Wolfratshausen wants to protect children from diseases - ventilation systems are becoming expensive
The German Association of Cities has positioned itself on the indoor air issue: In a circular, the association's deputy managing director emphasizes: "Mobile ventilation devices are not a suitable means of equipping all school rooms and buildings." Only in individual cases could these portable devices help improve the air quality in schools - in addition to ventilation - to be improved.
"The city of Wolfratshausen will therefore not purchase any mobile air filters," said the administration in the draft resolution for the members of the technical committee.
The majority of the city of Geretsried also refused to buy such devices.
Wolfratshausen: Weidach and Waldram are being retrofitted - the largest school only later
In the schools in Waldram and Weidach, the classrooms are being retrofitted differently. The municipality relies on so-called decentralized ventilation devices. These are built-in components in windows that ventilate the room. As architect Thomas Wenig, employee in the town hall department “Planning and Environment” emphasized, these are “worth considering in view of the pandemic and the air quality in terms of benefits and sustainability”. A possible germ load in the room air would be "effectively counteracted" - the same applies to the CO2 concentration in the classroom. At the same time, the decentralized ventilation system would “recover a large part of the heat”, says Wenig.
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Green Council criticized: The largest school in the city is missing from the decision
The building committee agreed on the sense of the measure: the councils each voted unanimously for the installation in the classrooms in Waldram and Weidach as well as in the after-school care center and in the cafeteria in Waldram. There were discussions because the elementary and middle school on Hammerschmiedweg - the largest in Loisachstadt - is not included in this decision. As reported, the building is being completely renovated and expanded - but completion is not expected for years. Dr. Hans Schmidt (Greens) criticized: “We now have a pandemic and now we have the need.” He considered waiting three to five years for the end of the construction work to be “irresponsible”. According to town hall chief Klaus Heilinglechner (BVW), however, it makes little sense to “equip rooms that we will soon be renovating or tearing down”.All classrooms in the Hammerschmiedschule are to be equipped with decentralized fans in the course of the work. That was enough for most of the committee.
Corona: Ventilation systems in Wolfratshauser schools probably cost 1.4 million
The city administration estimates the cost of the retrofitting at around 27,500 euros per classroom.
The three measures together cost around 1.4 million euros.
The municipality is hoping for federal subsidies.
The city will probably have to shell out around 740,000 euros for upgrading the classrooms.
"A long-term solution makes sense, even if the acquisition costs are higher," emphasized the mayor.
It is unclear when the ventilation systems can be installed.
On the one hand, because the devices are in great demand at the moment and long delivery times must be expected.
On the other hand, because it is not possible to carry out the modifications while the lessons are still in progress, explained Wenig.
