Poor ventilation is the biggest fear of high schools
On the first floor of Haarlem's Mendel College, rector-administrator Jan-Mattijs Heinemeijer grabs his infrared thermometer and points it at the forehead of a colleague who happens to be passing by. "All wrong, surely?" the victim jokes with raised hands. It turns out not to be so bad: like the other colleagues on whom Heinemeijer tries the pistol-shaped device, this teacher is neatly within the safe spectrum around 37 degrees.
If it had been up to the rector of the largest secondary school in Haarlem, all 1,780 pupils at Mendel College would have undergone this procedure from Monday. Pupils with excessive temperatures would be sent home to prevent a corona outbreak.
But on this Thursday morning, four days before schools reopen in the Northern Netherlands, it was revealed that the measure does not comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 'Pupils standing in the queue get it when someone's temperature is too high. That information is private,' Heinemeijer said.
A mortal sin, the rector thinks, but he has a few other trump cards. For instance, a parent who works in the ventilation industry stopped by this morning. 'He is going to install cabinets in the school to measure CO2, particulate matter and aerosols.'
Windows and doors open
Splash screens have also been installed on teachers' desks and large supplies of disinfectant have been stocked up. To get students outside during break as much as possible, the candy machines have been emptied and the canteen shop remains closed. It has also been agreed that in every classroom, windows and doors are and will remain open. Also during classes. Also in winter. 'As long as it is necessary. If necessary, it will be jumpers and coats on in the classroom in December.'
Ideally, Heinemeijer would have taken even more measures to make teachers, parents and students feel safe. Because that is what is lacking in many secondary schools. As secondary education reopens fully for the first time since mid-March, questions are increasingly being raised about whether it is safe.
The decision to fully reopen schools was taken before the summer holidays. Since then, the virus has flared up again, especially among young people. Moreover, in recent weeks, warnings from experts have been sounding that airborne spread of the virus is still a possibility behoort. Children over 15 might also play a bigger role in infections than thought.
Poorly ventilated
Schools should check their ventilation systems writes Slob, who relies on RIVM guidelines. He further advises schools, among other things, to ventilate 'regularly'. Schools should also check whether they comply with the 'building code' - a set of technical building regulations that must be met for new buildings or renovations. Additional measures are not necessary, according to the minister.
With that, calm has not returned. VO-raad president Paul Rosenmöller is the mildest, calling the advice "a step forward". However, he does worry about the costs. 'We will now investigate how many schools do not comply with the building code. If there are many, we urgently need to sit down with the minister about how we are going to implement it and who is going to pay for it.' But education union Aob thinks the ventilation advice is too non-committal. 'Inadequate ventilation is a problem that has been around in schools for a long time,' says director Jelmer Evers. 'I get a lot of questions from concerned teachers who don't know about the air quality in their schools. At the very least, it should be clear what the situation is in all schools.'
Insufficient
Downright critical is Wim Zeiler, who as a professor of installation engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology has been researching air quality in schools for 15 years. 'Some 20 to 25 per cent of schools currently have ventilation facilities that are inadequate. Now schools can still open a window, but in winter they fall back on their ventilation system.'
That schools must comply with the building code by the minister is, he says, a 'very minimal requirement'. 'The building code is about the amount of fresh air added to a building, not about whether that fresh air actually reaches the pupils.' Moreover, he regularly sees schools that have a well-functioning ventilation system on paper that does not work properly in practice. 'There has been no maintenance, control valves have closed or filters are so dirty that they are no longer effective.'
That there will be a study on the spread of corona in secondary schools and the possible role of aerosols in it does not reassure him. 'Before those results are there, you'll be six months down the line. We don't have time for that.' The professor advocates a rapid risk analysis by experts. 'Map how many schools there are in pre-2012 buildings, without CO2 meters, where teachers over 60 teach changing groups of pupils. And take extra measures for that high-risk group.'
Whether it is safe?
At 58 years old, drawing teacher Ruud Wierda does not belong to that risk group, yet he too is worried. 'Normally I am looking forward to the start of the new year, now I am honestly looking forward to it a bit.' The teacher at Mendel College has come to school to set up his classroom safely. For the students it is good that they are reopening, says the teacher, but whether it is safe? 'I wonder about that.
The Haarlem school for mavo, havo, vwo and gymnasium has gradually expanded since its establishment in 1953. As a result, the building now consists of a '50s section', a '70s section', a '90s section', as well as a section from 2015. Everything complies with the building regulations, says rector Heinemeijer. But teacher Wierda points to the cramped corridors on the way to his classroom in the 1950s section. 'Here, students cannot even keep a 1.5-metre distance.'
His good fortune is that he teaches in a large classroom and does not have to change classrooms via the cramped corridors in between. To prevent students from getting too close, he has put a barrier of extra tables at the front of the classroom. He also plans to wear a mouth guard. 'Just to be on the safe side. I am a carer for my parents-in-law who are in their nineties.'
At Home
Rector Heinemeijer hears it more often, both from teachers and parents: if they are not worried about themselves or their child, it is because of vulnerable people in their immediate environment. Some parents keep their children at home for the time being for that reason.
Ideally, the rector would take stricter measures within his school, such as making it compulsory for pupils to wear mouth caps. But to avoid parents with children at different schools ending up in a tangle of rules, Haarlem schools agreed to take the same measures.
Schools are following RIVM guidelines. The question is how long this will continue, says Heijnemeier. 'It's waiting for things to go wrong at a school.' And if things go wrong, he will still pull out all the stops to keep his school open. 'Then I will deploy those infrared thermometers anyway. I dare to go to court, safety is the most important thing now.'
VENTILATION ADVICE
'Air regularly for 10 to 15 minutes by opening windows and doors against each other,' reads one of Education Minister Arie Slob's advice to school boards. Schools should also avoid the 'creation of strong air currents by (swing) fans and mobile air conditioners in common areas'.