RICHMOND — Gov. Ralph Northam on Monday proposed spending $500 million in federal coronavirus relief money to improve ventilation and air quality in public schools around the state.

       “This investment will help families, educators, and students feel more confident about the quality of the air they breathe as we return to in-person learning five days a week this fall,” Northam (D) said in a prepared statement.

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       Ventilation is a particular concern as schools prepare to reopen amid a rise in coronavirus infection rates, and Virginia has strongly recommended voluntary masking among students.

       Speaking in the city of Hopewell, which was kicking off a new year-round school initiative, Northam called for setting aside $250 million for the projects from funds sent to the state government under the federal American Rescue Plan Act. School systems would have to match that funding from ARPA or other federal relief money sent directly to localities.

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       The General Assembly will convene a special legislative session on Aug. 2 to take up this proposal and other plans for the roughly $4.3 billion in coronavirus relief funding made available to Virginia as its share of the rescue plan.

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       But Democratic leaders who control both chambers of the legislature made it clear Monday that they support the schools proposal.

       “Now more than ever, this funding is critical to ensuring we provide a safe and supportive learning environment to students in Virginia schools,” Del. Roslyn C. Tyler (D-Sussex), chairwoman of the House Committee on Education, said in a news release, emphasizing the need for healthy air quality in schools as they grapple with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

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       State Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth), who heads the Senate Committee on Education and Health, said the funding is “incredibly important for schools across the Commonwealth in dire need of upgrading their ventilation systems.”

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       The Virginia Department of Education recently analyzed 117 capital improvement plans from school systems around the state and found that the overall top need, besides general building construction or renovation, was repairing and replacing ventilation and air quality systems, Northam’s office said.

       The projects identified in the analysis amounted to more than $600 million, but Northam’s office said his proposal would address virtually every project identified by the school systems.

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       “We know high-quality ventilation systems reduce the number of virus particles in the air, and this investment means that Virginia schools will have updated HVAC systems for years to come,” state Education Secretary Atif Qarni said.

       The state plans to distribute the money based on the average daily number of pupils in each school division, with a minimum of $200,000 per division.

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       After a year of mostly remote learning during the coronavirus shutdown, Virginia schools are required to offer in-person instruction for five days a week this fall.

       Northam rolls out plan to use $353 million in federal aid to help businesses hurt by pandemic

       The air quality projects are among a host of initiatives the state plans for using the federal relief money. Earlier this month, Northam announced a proposal to set aside $353 million to help small businesses that were especially hard-hit by the pandemic, such as tourism and hospitality.

       Northam intends to roll out more proposals in the days leading up to next week’s start of the special session.