FORT WORTH, Texas — San Angelo ISD (SAISD) custodians have embraced a revolutionary tool to help keep students and staff healthier. Using the EMist System, disinfectant is electrostatically applied to surfaces faster, easier, and with better results.
Andrea Vela, custodial supervisor of SAISD, said, “The EMist charge causes the disinfectant to wrap around hard surfaces. It hits hard-to-reach places that spray-and-wipe isn’t able to hit. The EMist system makes disinfecting fast, easy and more efficient than traditional methods. This new technology drastically reduces the time it takes to disinfect a school. With the old spray-and-wipe method you’re in a classroom a good 20-30 minutes and it could take the whole day to do the entire campus. With the EMist system, we can disinfect a room in about two minutes and the entire campus within two hours.”
Influenza (flu), rhinovirus (common cold), and norovirus (vomiting/diarrhea, stomach flu) are commonly found in schools, easily transmitted, and lead to significant loss of school funding.
Student absenteeism is a major risk of funding for schools and student illness drives most of the absenteeism. In a CleanLink article, “The average student in the United States (K-12) misses 4.5 days per school year, while the average teacher misses 5.3 days per school year (Azor-Martinez, 2014.) This results in 164 million lost school days for students per year in the United States (Bright 2009). The website Governing (2019) reports spend per student per year for each state in the U.S. and reports the average spending per student as $11,762 per year. Assuming a 180-day school year, the average student generates $65.34 in funding for the school district per day. Therefore, the total loss of funding associated with student absenteeism each year is $10.7 billion dollars in the U.S. While illness is not the only reason students are absent, it is believed to be the main reason students are absent from school each day.”
In a peered-reviewed article, Joshua Robertson, President of EMist, writes, “Electrostatic spraying has been used in the agricultural and automobile industry for decades. Because most surface areas are neutral or negative, a positively charged electrostatic spray application system optimizes adhesion and attraction (electromagnetic theory). The dispersed droplets spread out more evenly and seek out the negative (-) or neutrally charged surface. The disinfectant is more targeted, provides more consistent coverage with less waste, and like two magnets, attracted to the oppositely charged surface with remarkable force.”
About SAISD
San Angelo Independent School District has 24 schools serving more than 14,400 students Pre-K through 12th grade. The District also serves children birth through age five at three Head Start/Early Head Start campuses. Learn more by visiting: San Angelo ISD.
About EMist
First used in 2009 to combat the H1N1 virus in schools, EMist Systems are used in schools, hospitals, long-term care facilities, healthcare transportation, office buildings, fitness centers and food production facilities. The patented Electrostatic System and Health-E™ Certification Process delivers faster, easier and healthier outcomes at a lower cost to help break the chain of infection. Learn more by visiting: Emist.com.