51 Harlem Schools Have Ventilation Problems, Report Shows

HARLEM, NY — As ventilation inspectors begin visiting 1,700 New York City public schools to determine whether their facilities are safe enough to allow students to return to class next month, a new report shows that more than 1,000 of the city's schools have documented ventilation problems.

The report, published Wednesday by the education news site Chalkbeat, compiled inspection records of school buildings across the city between fall 2018 through summer 2019. The report found that at least 1,030 of them had problems with either the air supply system — which brings fresh air inside the building — or the exhaust system, which brings stale air outside.

In Harlem, at least 51 schools had at least one deficiency in their ventilation systems, according to the inspection reports. Another round of inspections was conducted this summer but has not been released publicly. (Read the full list below).

Good ventilation lowers the risk of transmitting the coronavirus through the air, and Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that inspectors had already been deployed, checking every classroom in every school to ensure that windows can open and the supply and exhaust fans are working properly before students return Sept. 10.

But the new report shows the immense scale of the problem, and backs up claims by some teachers and principals that their school buildings were poorly ventilated and ill-equipped to welcome back students during the pandemic.

Harlem K-12 schools with ventilation problems:

A. Philip Randolph Campus High School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

The Bilingual Bicultural School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

Central Park East High School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

Central Park East I (I.S. 13)

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

Central Park East II (P.S. 50)

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: School does not have a supply fan system.
• Report

Columbia Secondary School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 3
• Supply fan deficiencies: School does not have a supply fan system.
• Report

Democracy Prep Endurance Charter School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

East Harlem Scholars Academy Charter School II

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

Frederick Douglass Academy II Secondary School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: School does not have a supply fan system.
• Report

Harlem Link Charter School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: School does not have a supply fan system.
• Report

Harlem Village Academy East Charter School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

Harlem Village Academy West Charter School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

Isaac Newton Middle School for Math & Science

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

James Weldon Johnson

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

KIPP STAR College Prep Charter School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 3
• Supply fan deficiencies: School does not have a supply fan system.
• Report

Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

MS 224 Manhattan East School for Arts & Academics

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

NYC Autism Charter School East Harlem

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: School does not have a supply fan system.
• Report

Park East High School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

PS 102 Jacques Cartier

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

PS 108 Assemblyman Angelo Del Toro Educational Complex

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

PS 123 Mahalia Jackson

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: School does not have a supply fan system.
• Report

PS 125 Ralph Bunche

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 3
• Supply fan deficiencies: School does not have a supply fan system.
• Report

PS 129 John H. Finley

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

PS 133 Fred R Moore

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 0
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

PS 138

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

PS 154 Harriet Tubman

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

PS 155 William Paca

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

PS 175 Henry H Garnet

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

PS 180 Hugo Newman

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

PS 194 Countee Cullen

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

PS 28 Wright Brothers

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

PS 30 Hernandez/Hughes

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

PS 46 Arthur Tappan

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

PS 7 Samuel Stern

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 0
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

PS 76 A. Philip Randolph

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

PS 83 Luis Munoz Rivera

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

PS 92 Mary McLeod Bethune

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

PS 96 Joseph Lanzetta

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

Renaissance Charter High School for Innovation

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

Renaissance School of the Arts

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

River East Elementary

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

St. HOPE Leadership Academy Charter School

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

Success Academy Charter School - Harlem 1

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: School does not have a supply fan system.
• Report

Success Academy Charter School - Harlem 2

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

Success Academy Charter School - Harlem 3

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

Success Academy Charter School - Harlem 5

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: School does not have a supply fan system.
• Report

The Lexington Academy

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

Urban Assembly Academy for Future Leaders

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing & Visual Arts

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: School does not have a supply fan system.
• Report

Read more and view Chalkbeat's searchable database here.

Patch reporter Gus Saltonstall contributed to this report.