Indoor air quality has been a topic of concern for schools for quite some time now, but more recently, wildfire smoke, aging infrastructure, and other air quality concerns are creating new challenges for school facilities—and public health organizations and researchers are urging K-12 schools to take a more active approach to indoor air quality planning.

For example, the American Lung Association is inviting schools nationwide to participate in its Clean Air School Challenge, a program designed to help K-12 schools develop, implement, and sustain indoor air quality management plans. The organization says more than half of K-12 schools do not have indoor air quality management plans to proactively address air quality risks, which studies have shown can have a detrimental impact on students’ performance. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cited recent research that found children in classrooms with high outdoor air ventilation rates tend to achieve higher scores on standardized tests in math and reading than children in poorly ventilated classrooms.

At the same time, researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health are working with Boston Public Schools to test practical ways that schools can respond when wildfire smoke or other outdoor air pollution threatens classroom environments—a timely subject given that wildfire smoke from fires burning in Canada and the Pacific Northwest are currently blanketing states across the Midwest and Northeast, extending as far south as Florida according to The Washington Post. The research builds on two years of work analyzing air quality in Boston classrooms and is now focused on whether existing interventions can help protect students in real-world school settings.

Taken together, these developments are highlighting a growing concern for school leaders: indoor air quality is no longer just a facilities maintenance issue or a “nice-to-have” design intent. It is becoming part of a “must-have” approach to student health, emergency preparedness, academic continuity, and long-term building strategy.

Clean Air School Challenge targets school IAQ planning

The American Lung Association says its Clean Air School Challenge supports public, charter, and tribal K-12 schools nationwide. It also noted that participating schools receive training, resources, technical assistance, peer mentorship, recognition, opportunities for mini-grants, and access to learning collaboratives as part of the initiative.

“Clean air in schools is essential in protecting children’s health and supporting their ability to learn and thrive,” said Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association, in a press release.

Nearly 200 schools have accepted the Association’s challenge and have taken steps to improve air quality in their buildings and protect more than 66,000 children. The program also includes a focus on energy management, which the Lung Association identifies as the second-largest cost for K-12 schools.

The Lung Association says students and staff spend much of their time indoors, where some pollutant levels can be two to five times higher—and in some cases more than 100 times higher—than outdoor levels. Indoor pollutants may include carbon dioxide, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, mold, and viruses, and conditions can be worsened by poor air exchange, cleaning products, vehicle exhaust, and building issues such as plumbing leaks.

Poor classroom air quality can affect student attention, trigger asthma symptoms and allergic reactions, contribute to headaches and fatigue, and increase absenteeism and missed instructional time, according to the Lung Association. The organization also says students with asthma, disabilities, or underlying health conditions, as well as students in underserved or under-resourced communities, face higher risks.

Boston researchers test wildfire smoke responses

In Boston, researchers are looking specifically at how schools can respond when outdoor air pollution becomes severe, as has been the case this summer with the aforementioned wildfires. Researchers from Boston University’s School of Public Health conducted experiments in Boston Public Schools to understand how vulnerable classrooms are to outdoor air pollution and which strategies could make them more resilient.

Dubbed the CHESS project (for Clean Air, Health, and School Sustainability), the study builds on a partnership that began in 2024, when professor Patricia Fabian began working with Boston Public Schools to analyze data from the district’s network of more than 4,400 indoor air quality sensors. This new phase includes real-time detection of air pollution events, co-designing solutions with teachers, testing interventions in practice, and translating findings into policy.

At four Boston Public Schools in Dorchester—Holmes Innovation School, UP Academy Holland, Sarah Greenwood School, and Joseph Lee Elementary School—scientists are testing the effectiveness of classroom air purifiers at different fan speeds and evaluating how mechanical ventilation systems perform in removing pollutants. The team is using controlled carbon dioxide releases and incense to simulate pollution in actual classroom conditions.

The researchers also are gathering valuable teacher feedback to help shape the work by interviewing teachers to identify gaps in knowledge and misinformation about classroom air quality and to develop practical educational materials as a result.

The goal is to help Boston Public Schools refine an air pollution response action plan by the start of the 2026-27 school year. Researchers also hope to conduct similar work at the James Otis School in East Boston, where ceiling ventilators are being piloted as an option for schools that cannot accommodate full HVAC retrofits.

Why this matters

These developments point to an important conclusion that school facilities and operations leaders need to know: improving indoor air quality doesn’t always begin with a major capital project. Districts can start with IAQ management plans, staff training, sensor data, classroom-level filtration, targeted ventilation strategies, and clear response protocols for events such as wildfire smoke.

At the same time, the Boston research underscores the importance of validating solutions in actual school buildings. Portable air cleaners, ventilation upgrades, rooftop sensors, teacher communication, and HVAC planning all work best when they are tied to a coordinated district strategy.

As more districts confront wildfire smoke, extreme weather, aging buildings, and tighter budgets, indoor air quality planning is likely to become a more important part of school safety, health, maintenance, and capital improvement conversations.