MEDFORD, MA — A report compiled late last month and released by the Medford Public Schools Friday shows the improvements done to the HVAC systems in school buildings, as well as some of the air quality challenges the district faced. Workers were onsite last week addressing what the district called “long overdue” repairs to the HVAC systems at its schools. There were enough areas within each school that met, or exceeded, the increased air quality standards to accommodate the return of high needs and kindergarten students.

The MPS report specifically pertained to Cohort A, or the district’s high-needs student population. The district measured air exchanges per hour (ACH) and deemed rooms underneath that threshold unfavorable.

Medford High School

Data showed favorable air quality in the third floor of the B building, or the science labs wing, which was extensively renovated over the last several years. Students in Cohort A, who