Schools Make Sure Smoggy Air Is No Sweat for Students

As smoggy air hangs like a brown blanket over large parts of the San Gabriel Valley, school districts say they are monitoring air quality and are shutting down sports activities when Stage 1 smog alerts are declared.

Many local districts say smog alerts haven’t disrupted school because they are declared by the South Coast Air Quality Management District in the mid- or late afternoon, when physical education classes are already over.

Additionally, because classes have just resumed this week in most districts, sports teams that traditionally practice outside during the unhealthful late afternoons have not started workouts.

“We’re not outside yet; we’re issuing locks and lockers, and the kids aren’t involved in activities yet,” said Todd Denton, principal of Rosemead High School in the El Monte Union High School District, an area hard-hit by unhealthful air in recent days.

But some school officials wonder about the air quality even on days when the AQMD doesn’t issue smog alerts.

“Sometimes you can’t see the mountains, but there’s still no Stage 1 smog alert,” said Charles Parcell, chief of campus police for the Pasadena Unified School District and the man charged with curtailing phys ed activity during smog alerts.

Some schools monitor an AQMD radio frequency to find out about unhealthful air quality. Others call the air quality board for reports.

Officials at Glendora Unified, in an area that has also suffered from unhealthful air in recent days, call the air quality board and also rely on a monitoring instrument at the school district to provide readings each day.

“When we get the smog alert, we stop the activity for that day,” said Keith Hilliard, director of Instructional Support Services for Glendora Unified.

Hilliard said that in past years, athletes have filed into the gym during the smog alerts to continue workouts. But so far this year, no smog alerts have occurred during class hours.

When smog alerts cause cancellation of after-school sports, coaches sometimes reschedule practices for evenings. But that isn’t always an option for phys ed classes.

“Glendora High has 1,800 kids, and you can’t have 1,800 kids at PE in the morning, it’s physically impossible,” Hilliard said.