Frequently Asked Questions

It depends.  Most of the year, our air is healthy and clean.  

During smoke season (late summer through early fall), it is very polluted, Central Oregon now has 20 or more days of unhealthy air a year from wildfires.  

Bend was recently found to be among the top 5 smokiest places in the country. 

The World Health Organization has deemed air pollution the single biggest environmental threat to human health.  

Pollution from wildfires is mostly composed of very toxic small particulates called PM2.5.  Twenty of these particles can fit across a human hair.  When we breathe in PM2.5 particles, they cross through the lungs, enter our bloodstream, and become deposited in our organs and tissues.  

Not only does PM2.5  aggravate asthma and other breathing disorders, it increases the risks of respiratory infection, stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, lung disease & neurological effects.  

Both short term exposure to high concentrations of PM2.5 and long term exposure to low concentrations of PM2.5 increase health risks.

Bend-La Pine Schools do not require students to be indoors unless the outdoor AQI is over 200 (Very Unhealthy). They allow individual administrators to decide if recess or other outdoor activities can be held when the AQI is between 150-200 (Unhealthy).

Administrators at individual schools have been instructed to use Watch Duty or the US EPA's Air Now air quality maps for real-time AQI readings.

Schools have access to MERV 13 filters for use in thier HVAC systems and will keep air handlers on during smoke events.​

Learn more in this blog post...

No, Bend-La Pine Schools have not installed monitors in schools.  We have no way of knowing if the air quality in the schools is healthy because it is not being measured.  

We need your help to encourage the use of monitors in and outside of every school in the district!​

Please follow us and subscribe to our newsletter so we can show the district how many people care about improving air quality at out schools!

We want the Bend-La Pine School District to keep children indoors when the AQI is over 150 and to consider keeping them indoors between 100 -150.

We want air quality monitors to be installed inside and outside of every school in the district.

We want facilities personnel and administrators to be trained to properly manage air quality in our schools. 

We want air quality to be a priority at every school.

Many youth activities occur in the summer and fall in Central Oregon and we want all of them to make air quality a priority.  For now, we are focused on advocating for Bend-La Pine Schools to change their policies.  

Once Bend-La Pine Schools makes real change, we will turn our attention to Bend Parks & Recreation, soccer leagues, and other organizations who decide when children should be indoors or outdoors during smoke season.

Please let us know what organizations you would like us to reach out to next.