District interested in ionizer to combat COVID-19

CONWAY — To potentially ward off the novel coronavirus from classrooms in the Conway School District, the Conway School Board’s facilities committee is recommending the board purchase four ionization systems to explore their effectiveness, and if it works, 101 more could be bought for all five campuses.

While board members are open to the idea, the majority voted to table discussion on the $26,925 initial purchase and to have Siemens Engineering Services do a presentation at the July 28 board meeting. The board voted 4-1 to go that route on Monday night with chairman Joe Lentini, Courtney Burke, Michelle Capozzoli and Jess Whitelaw in the majority, while Joe Mosca, who chairs the facilities committee, was in the minority. Fellow board members Bill Aughton and Randy Davison did not participate in the Zoom meeting.