Proper Planning Enables Area Schools to Effectively Spend CARES Act Dollars

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Local engineering firm Setty & Associates today praised area schools for the swift and effective planning that enabled them to quickly put Federal CARES Act dollars to work for students.

"When the city of Washington, for example, came to us for help making their HVAC systems safer, we were able to put together meaningful and actionable clean air building assessments (CABAs) for them," Setty & Associates President Raj Setty said. "Implementing the recommendations as part of those assessments means the air in DCPS classrooms will be cleaner, safer and better for students when they return. Our understanding is that they have every intention of doing that, and soon."

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, commonly known as the CARES Act, includes $1.6 billon in funding for improvements and upgrades to the nation's educational facilities. According to data from the U.S. Department of Education (available at https://covid-relief-data.ed.gov/), the District was allocated $100M of that total. To date, it has spent roughly $40M, far outpacing other districts' ability to put these dollars to work. Proactive and aggressive planning made that possible and means the city is far ahead of other states and cities in terms of improving their educational facilities, and particularly the air quality within them.

DC's KIPP Charter School Managing Director of Operations Lorraine Ramos said, "Working with Setty and with the facilities management firm PMM, we were able to quickly put together a game plan. We identified the upgrades we needed, the filtration systems we could update and the priority from building to building on our campus. We moved fast, and that was critical."

Area charter schools are similarly putting CARES dollars to work. Luis Fermin, Facilities Manager at Oneness Family School in Chevy Chase said, "Using Setty's risk calculator and having them walk me through it step by step, helped me get educated and prepare for the highest level of indoor air quality to help mitigate the risk of transmission."

In addition to the work with DCPS and other Washington-area charter schools, Setty is also working with 40-50 public and charter school systems nationwide, as well as colleges and universities including the University of the District of Columbia here locally.

The most recent stimulus measure includes an additional $82 billion for education and allows for a broad range of uses for those dollars to stabilize schools. The measure specifically "repairing school facilities, especially ventilation systems, to improve air quality and reduce spread of Covid."

To learn more about this work, about CABAs, or to request similar assessments on your campus, workplace or residential or industrial building, please visit www.setty.com.

Contact: Caryn Alagno
202-236-9073

SOURCE Setty & Associates

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