The air circulating on buses will be a bit cleaner for Marietta City Schools students and drivers.
The district has purchased 67 Bus Clean Air Needlepoint Ionization units for its school buses. The units have been installed on all buses used to transport all general and special education students, said Chuck Gardner, Marietta City Schools chief operating officer.
School board members unanimously voted last week to use $78,565 in CARES Act funding it received from Cobb Board of Commissioners to purchase the units from Custom Mobility.
Credit: Marietta City Schools
Credit: Marietta City Schools
Gardner said third-party testing shows the units can kill 99.4% of pathogens, including the coronavirus, within 30 minutes. The technology will run around the clock any time the school bus is in use.
The school board last month also purchased Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization units to retrofit HVAC units that have not been upgraded throughout the district.
This technology, which the district purchased from Mingledorff’s, Inc. for $255,990, can remove up to 99% of viruses and pathogens from the air, Marietta schools previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It also can be used while students and staff are in the building.