Allegheny County schools awarded nearly $11M for environmental repairs

More than a hundred school districts across Pennsylvania are slated to receive $75 million in state funding to improve classroom air quality, install filtered drinking fountains and prevent mold.

State officials announced this week that 109 districts statewide were awarded money through the Department of Education’s Environmental Repairs Grants program.

“This funding will enable schools to repair buildings and provide students and school staff with safe air to breathe, water to drink, and classrooms to learn in,” said Education Secretary Khalid Mumin.

15 school districts, charter schools and career and technical education centers in Allegheny County will receive a combined $10.7 million to make environmental repairs.

Officials at Pittsburgh Public Schools say the $4.1 million awarded to the district will be used across several school buildings. Projects will include replacing asbestos flooring, removing old carpeting as a preventative measure against mold and installing new lead-filtering drinking water coolers and bottle-filling stations.

The district started rolling out a long-term project to systematically replace outdated water fountains in 2016, after 3% of its taps — including 141 sinks and water fountains — tested above the safe levels.

According to a 2021 survey of 65 school districts across Pennsylvania by the Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Women For a Healthy Environment, more than 90% of districts reported lead in their drinking water.

Superintendent John Mozzocio at Penn Hills School District said its $2.2 million award will help leaders upgrade the HVAC system at Linton Middle so that the building has central air.

Mozzocio said that will help improve the middle school’s learning environment and air quality. Funding for Penn Hills will also be used to update the flooring in 50 classrooms.

Plum Borough School District, which was awarded $1.9 million, will also target air quality at Plum Middle School. School leaders say the money will go toward installing a dedicated outdoor air system to improve indoor air quality, as well as replacing exterior doors and windows and HVAC chiller and pump systems.

Links between air quality and asthma rates among school-aged children have long been monitored by groups countywide. According to a 2019 health department report, 11% of Allegheny County kids had asthma, compared to 8% nationally.

The funds will also go to offset the cost of roof replacement projects over the summer at Sto-Rox Primary Center and Sto-Rox Upper Elementary, which received $711,303 for improvements. ‘

As of August 2023, all three of the district’s school buildings needed urgent roof repairs. According to Sto-Rox superintendent Megan Van Fossan, repairs at the primary center have finished, and the upper elementary’s roof will be complete this week.

“The district is very thankful to have the support of the Pennsylvania Department of Education as we make these essential improvements to our schools,” Van Fossan said.

An additional $100 million is also available for school facility improvements through the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), which will provide funding for heating and air conditioning upgrades, window replacements and environmental remediation.

State officials said that, as of this week, DCED is continuing to review school applications.