See You In Court - March 2025

In finalizing the Board’s budget request for 2025-2026, the members of the Nutmeg Board of Education have been making tough decisions to trim their budget request down to a five percent increase for next year.  Their frustration has been exacerbated by conflicting pressures.  Unions who stand to lose positions next year have been protesting, while Seymour Dollars, the veteran Chairperson of the Nutmeg Board of Finance, has been insisting on social media that the Board request better not exceed a three percent increase for next year.  In short, the Nutmeg Board has been put in a no-win situation. 

At the Board meeting last night, things got worse.  Nellie Negative, a frequent complainer, took the Board to task during Public Comment.  Nellie started a three-minute diatribe against the Board with “You guys are derelict! I hear that the Board cares about the safety of its students and staff.  But you haven’t done a thing about indoor air quality.  You cry poor and neglect building maintenance.  God only knows what is going on in our schools!”

Veteran Board member Bob Bombast snapped.  “You don’t know what you are talking about, Nellie.  I am sure that Mr. Superintendent has everything under control!”

“You are wrong as usual, Bob!” responded Nellie.  “I have been scouring the Board agendas and district websites, and there is no evidence that the district has done any of the inspections of the HVAC systems in the schools as required by state law.”

“Oh, you mean another unfunded mandate?” retorted Bob.  “I am sure that we will get to it when we have the time and money.  We have to set some priorities, and first we must pay our bills with the limited funds we have.  If you really care about this HVAC thing, you should talk to the Board of Finance about giving us the necessary funds.”

Mr. Superintendent weighed in.  “We do our best, but we just haven’t had the money.  Moreover, I am in the schools all the time, and the air seems fine to me.  Nellie, I am sick of people like you sowing fear without any good cause.”

“Don’t you guys read the laws?” Nellie persisted.  “School boards are required to inspect the HVAC systems of each of their schools and post the results of such inspections on the district website and the websites of the individual schools.  But when I go to the website of Median Middle School, I read about bake sales, but I don’t see a thing about the required HVAC inspection.”

“Oh, now I get it!” said Mr. Superintendent.  “Nellie, maybe you should read the law more carefully.  I did, and I am happy to inform you and the Board that the requirement for HVAC inspections doesn’t begin to apply until next year.  We have a tough budget this year, but we will try to put some funding into the budget for 2026-2027 for these inspections.”

“Look . . . ,” Nellie began to respond, but Mr. Chairperson cut her off, citing the Board’s rule that public comment for any individual is limited to three minutes and noting that Nellie’s time had long expired.

Is Nellie just worrying about nothing, and is Mr. Superintendent correct in noting that the requirement for HVAC inspections doesn’t start until next year?

*          *          *

Mr. Superintendent was correct in stating that the new HVAC inspection mandate is first effective July 1, 2026.  However, under current law school, districts must conduct inspections of the indoor air quality of each school every year, and at the least the Nutmeg Board of Education was derelict in not posting the results of those indoor air quality inspections on the district website and that of each individual school (if indeed these inspections occurred).

Specifically, as amended last year Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-220(d) imposes two separate inspection requirements:  annual inspection of and report on the indoor air quality of each school, and periodic inspection of and report on the HVAC system of each school. 

Section 10-220(d)(2) now provides: “On and after January 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, a local or regional board of education shall provide for a uniform inspection and evaluation program of the indoor air quality within each school building using the Environmental Protection Agency's Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Program.”  The statute details the various components of such indoor air quality evaluations, which include “review, inspection or evaluation” of HVAC systems, the presence of radon, fungi, mold and bacteria, hazardous substances, chemical compounds in the air, as well as the degree of pest infestation and use of pesticides, a review of water incursion, plumbing, building elements, “the provision of indoor air quality maintenance training for building staff” and even an assessment of the overall cleanliness of the buildings. 

Significantly, this required annual review of indoor air quality in schools does not require testing, and school districts should carefully consider whether and when to test for indoor air quality.  However, the statute does require that boards of education must “make available for public inspection the results of the inspection and evaluation at a regularly scheduled board of education meeting and on the Internet web site of such board and on the Internet web site, if any, of each individual school.”  If Nellie was correct that the results were not so posted (if indeed the district conducted the required review of air quality at all of its schools), the Nutmeg Board was derelict in not complying with this statutory requirement.

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-220(d)(3) sets out a separate obligation.  Starting July 1, 2026, each school district must undertake a “uniform inspection and evaluation of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system within each school building under its jurisdiction.”  At least twenty percent of the buildings in the district must be inspected each year so that all the district buildings are inspected by 2031, at which point the cycle resets such that each school has its HVAC assessed every five years.

District personnel may not conduct such HVAC evaluations.  Rather, the HVAC inspections must be conducted by outside experts who meet specific qualifications set out in the statute.  The statute provides for an extension of the deadline for such inspections if there is an insufficient number of qualified persons to conduct such inspections, but such extension may not exceed one year.  Advanced planning and budgeting will be essential.

The amended statute specifies in more detail the requirements of such HVAC inspections, which must result in the production of a report that includes a description of any necessary corrective action(s).  Any corrective actions must be performed by contractors who meet the qualifications specified in the statute.  Moreover, as with indoor air quality evaluations, the HVAC report must also be made available to the public as described above.  In summary, the statute imposes significant new obligations on school districts that should be addressed in a timely manner with appropriate professional assistance.

Finally, in getting into it with Nellie, Bob violated a cardinal rule of public comment:  Listen, but do not respond, because board members may not have all the information.