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Private School Clears The Air

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By LIZ BLEAU, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 16, 2008

BRANDON - Teachers see it all the time. A child comes in with the sniffles, gets a cold or flu, the germs spread and then other students and sometimes teachers in the classroom catch it.

To curtail the spread of such illnesses, Children's Academy, a private preschool and after-school program for about 190 children, has installed a high-tech air purification system that uses ultraviolet light to kill germs. The school also gets a bi-yearly misting with a disinfectant that also can be sprayed on toys and other materials shared by students.

Children's Academy director Baldwin Sterling said the UV technology has been available for some time, but to date it has been used primarily in large institutions such as hospitals because the equipment is expensive.

A Brandon company, Fogmasters LLC, leases the equipment, making it more affordable for smaller businesses.

Children's Academy's system was installed Feb. 3.

"Parents are so thankful we are doing this. They want to make sure the air quality is best it can be. We all have allergies, get sick," Sterling said. Parents often miss work to care for sick children, so keeping them healthy benefits the whole family, he said.

Glenn Cummings, owner of Fogmasters, said the ultraviolet lights are installed in heating, venting and air-conditioning ducts and zap the air to kill micro-organisms. The disinfectant mist is sprayed every six months as another way of killing germs.

Prices vary depending on the number of air handlers and square footage in different buildings, but the average price range to lease the UV equipment and get the misting service for structures up to 4,000 square feet is $300 to $400 a month.

Children's Academy teacher Laurie Allen, who cares for toddlers, said she hopes the new system protects her young charges, and herself, from sickness.

"If one kids gets sick, you can just see it go around. For the older ones, it's not so bad, but for the little ones it can spread quickly," she said.

It's not a fail-safe system, though.

In a letter to Children's Academy parents describing the new systems, Cummings noted that hand-washing is the No. 1 way to prevent the spread of germs.

"Scrubbing the hands with soap and warm running water can remove up to 90 percent of germs on the hands," he said.

Reporter Liz Bleau can be reached at (813) 865-1557 or lbleau@tampatrib.com.

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