The department of education will investigate air quality at a Newcastle school after it returned carbon dioxide levels above the recommended amount.
Mayfield East Public School was among three NSW public schools that surpassed the National Construction Code's recommended threshold of 850 parts per million, according to a combined report between School Infrastructure and the University of New South Wales.
Along with Sydney's Hebersham Public School and Condell Park High School, a classroom in the Newcastle school recorded carbon dioxide levels over 1000 parts per million through most of the school day between June and December 2024.
Results indicated that indoor carbon dioxide levels in some schools were exceeding levels optimal for students' learning and health, the report said.
The Clean Air Schools report was released as part of the parliamentary inquiry into clean indoor air after committee chair and Greens MP Amanda Cohn asked if it would be made public at an April hearing.
Dr Cohn told the Newcastle Herald that high levels of carbon dioxide could affect the ability of students and staff to focus and think, and was an indicator of poor ventilation that meant infection could spread more easily.
"It's concerning that at schools like Mayfield East, poor air quality means the environment isn't supporting learning, and students and staff with chronic medical conditions are being put at unnecessary risk," she said.
At the Thursday June 11 hearing, the committee asked Department of Education representatives about future steps for schools with elevated levels of carbon dioxide.
Executive director of asset management Dean Slattery said they had an independent environmental hygienist at Mayfield East and the other two schools during the April school holidays.
"We've done assessments of the classrooms, size of the windows, type of windows, number of windows and any heating or cooling sources in that room," he said.
As the report measured results only in one classroom per school, 15 classrooms in the three schools would be fitted with carbon dioxide monitoring for five days in Term 3, he said.
A Department of Education spokesperson said since only one classroom was monitored, results could not be interpreted as reflective of the entire school.
"Students and their families can rest assured that there is no suggestion from this study that any NSW public school classroom, including at Mayfield East, was unsafe," they said.
The department was increasing awareness of air quality in schools and providing guidance to school staff on the need to maintain good ventilation and fresh air flow.
Between 2023 and 2025, the program collected air quality data from 59 schools across urban and rural NSW, measuring levels of particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide.
The eight schools from the Hunter Region were, Redhead Public School, Elermore Vale Public School, Garden Suburb Public School, Mayfield East Public School, Mount Hutton Public School, Mayfield West Public School, Callaghan College Jesmond, and Mount View High School.
Dr Cohn said it was likely that many more students across the Hunter and Newcastle were trying to learn in sub-optimal environments.
She said the government needed to provide all public schools with air quality monitoring and automated ventilation systems.
"Telling teachers to open windows is often impractical due to weather, noise and outdoor pollution," she said.
Just under 30 schools were measured for nitrogen dioxide in outdoor areas, with almost half exceeding the annual threshold, but very few exceeded the hourly threshold.
The report said the figures suggested that the monitored schools rarely experienced nitrogen dioxide levels that posed a health threat to staff or students.
Indoor and outdoor particulate matter largely remained below current government thresholds for annual and daily exposure.
The program found that 17 out of 59 schools had median levels of carbon dioxide above 850 ppm.
The report found that the highest average carbon dioxide levels were at schools that had no cross-ventilation and were not participating in the Cooler Classrooms Program, which were schools with ducted air-conditioning systems with fresh-air intake from outside.
