2007-09-16 Air Conditioning 2

As the weather gets cooler, the air conditioning controversy in District 204 continues to heat up.

I’ve been blessed to get to know many dedicated district residents and staff as this initiative as quickly taken off in the past couple of weeks. I have met some truly amazing people.

I’ve found out that the issues related to air temperature and quality are numerous and deserve serious attention.

Except for elementary schools, I don't know of a single building built in this area in the last twenty years for human occupation that does not have air conditioning. The fact that our high schools, middle schools, two most recent elementary schools, and administrative offices are all air conditioned demonstrates an awareness that students and adults work best with good air quality and controlled temperature and humidity. The Oswego School District used our building plans for their newest elementary schools and didn’t even consider building them without air conditioning.

Today's buildings are not built to be without air conditioning. They are unbearably hot and humid even when the temperature outside is mild. The situation is made worse by having a population density much greater than that of office buildings. In office buildings when the air conditioning isn't working usually the workers are sent home and productivity is lost rather than keeping workers in these unsatisfactory and potentially dangerous conditions. Even animal shelters and jails have air conditioning. Some states have laws that animals cannot be kept indoors at temperatures greater than ninety degrees, yet thousands of our children are put in this situation for too many hours and too many days each school year.

The bottom line is that for a cost of approximately $1 per week per household we could retrofit the remaining nineteen elementary buildings with air conditioning. This is a relatively small amount for most families. In fact, several families have offered to donate much more than this in an effort to supply their classrooms with much-needed relief.

The district has everything to gain by providing relief from heat and humidity in these buildings. The hot weeks would be spent on learning rather than surviving the heat, and children would not be forced to suffer illnesses related to heat and poor indoor air quality including heat exhaustion, headaches, stomach illnesses, asthma, allergies, and seizures. Several district children have needed medical treatment during the first two weeks of school most likely due to these poor conditions at school.

In fact, approximately one in thirteen school-aged children have asthma and according to the EPA asthma is the number one cause for absenteeism. This means it’s likely that over 1500 students in these 19 schools have asthma. Though not all are affected by heat, humidity and allergens, we should still strive to provide the best environment we can within reason.

Children with both learning and physical disabilities may have even more difficulty in a hot and humid classroom that has several fans running. This severely impacts those with hearing loss.

Several of us spoke on this topic at Monday’s School Board meeting. All of the speakers agreed that something needs to be done. The administration is in the process of gathering costs for a variety of options. These include air conditioning all or parts of buildings or shifting the school calendar or hours, and working on getting a plan in place for dealing with heat emergencies in the meantime.

The hot and humid conditions have a proven impact on children’s health and learning. I have been inundated with information to this effect. The public needs to know the gravity of the situation. This is not about comfort or luxury, this is about providing basic needs.

We would not ask our children to put on coats and learn in a classroom that is fifty degrees, why should they be forced to learn in an environment that exceeds ninety and in several cases exceeds one hundred degrees?

While the district administrators gather the information needed to make a decision about what the best solution is, this is the time to educate the public on the issues surrounding this need. We are losing instruction time for all children in our schools due to air temperature and quality issues, and many children are losing even more due to illnesses or special needs. It’s possible that this will go to referendum on the February ballot, in which case the public will need all the facts and data to make a good decision.

The district may sponsor a survey to determine whether or not the public is supportive of such a referendum. I might have said no a month ago, but now that I’m armed with facts I am one of the biggest advocates for retrofitting our schools with air conditioning.

I appreciate that the board and administration recognize that this is more than a mere question of comfort and will further investigate the issue of providing air conditioning for our elementary schools.