Fleet Hower joins U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko’s Healthy Schools Roundtable

October 30th, 2024

ALBANY, N.Y. — CASE Faculty, Fleet Hower, joined researchers and NY State education leaders in a roundtable discussion on air quality in school buildings hosted by U.S. Representative Paul Tonko.

CASE Faculty, Fleet Hower, joined a roundtable discussion on air quality in school buildings hosted by U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko. The meeting was held on Wednesday, October 23rd at Giffen Memorial Elementary Schoo,l which is one of a handful of local schools to benefit from a University at Albany study of air quality funded by the EPA.

Tonko introduced a bill in Congress giving the EPA the authority and resources to regularly study indoor air quality in schools and child care facilities. The bill, H.R. 9131, also supports development of technical assistance, guidance and best practices to improve indoor air quality in those places. The roundtable consister of UAlbany researcher Md. Aynul Bari; Superintendent Joseph Hochreiter; Giffen parent Raquel Ortiz; district physician Laura Staff, MD; district health services coordinator Suzanne McCarthy; and teachers’ union president Laura Franz. Also taking part in the roundtable were representatives from the Healthy Schools Network and New York State PTA.

At CASE, Hower is working with students and local partners on a series of urban data collection, including indoor air quality and healthy schools. Improving health for students through smart building systems and indoor air quality is one of many initiatives at the forefront of CASE research to address the intersection of climate issues and human livelihood.

Media Contact:

Kathie Brill, Program Manager

Brillk@rpi.edu