SUGAR LAND, Texas– Fort Bend Independent School District today announced a districtwide rollout of sustainable UV-C disinfection technology, in partnership with biosafety technology company, R-Zero. The implementation is part of FBISD’s commitment to enabling a higher standard of health and safety in every school building across Texas’ eighth largest district.
The last two years of the pandemic illuminated the immeasurable impact in-person learning has on student achievement, and the need to create healthier indoor learning environments for students, teachers, and staff. Policymakers are now highlighting the critical role of healthy buildings in education, as seen with the release of the U.S. Government’s National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan and the EPA’s Clean Air in Buildings Challenge earlier this month.
In January, approximately 78,000 students and more than 12,000 staff members returned after the Winter Break to FBISD classrooms to resume in-person instruction. This week, FBISD deployed 135 Arc UV-C systems across the district’s 82 campuses. Currently used by more than 900 schools across the country, FBISD is the largest district in the state of Texas to add R-Zero’s technology to current health and safety protocols.
“R-Zero’s Arc will enhance our existing disinfection processes and adds another measure to keep our students and staff safe,” Superintendent Dr. Christie Whitbeck said. “We purchased three Arcs per high school, two per middle school, one per elementary school and one per administrative building so we could disinfect each room, every day.”
Arc, an IoT enabled, mobile UV device, enables every FBISD campus to effectively and efficiently disinfect air and surfaces, without the use of harmful chemicals — another critical health benefit for the FBISD community. R-Zero’s UV technology now provides the district’s facilities teams with essential flexibility, also freeing up critical time and resources. The district purchased the Arc units using funds from the 2021-2022 COVID-19 School Health Support Grant, allocated to support safe, in-person instruction in schools. Today, R-Zero’s UV system is a key part of the district’s innovative approach to creating safer, healthier indoor learning environments — long-term.
“We applaud Fort Bend Independent School District for their leadership in creating healthier learning environments,” CEO of R-Zero, Grant Morgan said. “We know the impact indoor environments, like schools, have on students, and the unprecedented student and teacher absenteeism over the past 2 years has been devastating to the quality of education for our nation’s youth. We are proud to support FBISD’s commitment to providing the safest possible learning environment for all students and staff that will pay dividends long beyond the pandemic.”
