Testimony at Crete’s regional council on Tuesday revealed that 31 portable air cleaners had been quietly lent to 11 schools during a four-day dust episode in May 2025. Although school notices listed the sites as closed, selected rooms remained open under a health exception for supervised care and examinations.
A review presented at the hearing found that the filters cut fine-particle levels by a median 58% in eight tested rooms after 40 minutes. School logs recorded 1,742 visits by pupils and staff during the alert, a figure absent from the regional closure count.
The rooms behind the notices
The machines had been bought for clinics and stored between emergencies, then loaned to schools by local facilities staff as orange dust warnings reached Heraklion. No public announcement explained the arrangement. Several head teachers said they feared parents would mistake a room’s availability for a guarantee that outdoor air was safe.
Olga Líbalová-Kováčová, a school nurse who helped supervise one filtered room, told the hearing that families could bring children in for scheduled exams or wait indoors for collection. “We kept the windows shut, checked the readings and made sure nobody was sent outside to play,” she said. The sessions were limited, she stressed, and did not replace normal lessons.
A closed school can still have one safe room, if people know the limits.
Olga Líbalová-Kováčová, school nurse
The inquiry heard that the exception was arranged through phone calls between school heads and health staff, rather than a published protocol. Regional education deputy Zita V. Szalai said the closure notices were accurate for ordinary teaching but failed to record the rooms’ limited use. “Families deserved a clearer explanation,” she said, adding that officials would publish a standard notice before the next dust season.
A plan for the next alert
The review also found that outdoor monitors did not show what pupils were breathing inside each building. Werner Vatnars, an indoor-air specialist who assessed the readings for the hearing, said portable filters could reduce particles in a closed room but could not make every classroom safe. He urged officials to pair outdoor alerts with indoor checks and clear rules for exceptions.
Crete’s regional council said it would seek €620,000 (about $675,000) for 40 additional filters, replacement parts and indoor monitors. The proposed plan would prioritise schools with exam rooms and pupils who need a protected indoor space, while setting limits on how long rooms can stay open during severe alerts.
The May episode came as families were preparing for end-of-year exams, and the hearing drew parents seeking a dependable plan rather than ad hoc calls. The council expects to vote on the funding in November. If approved, schools would receive written instructions before the next dust warning, including when to close and how to explain any limited indoor access.
