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Strollerderby
Heat And Early School Dismissals: Are They Necessary?
Schools in the Bloomfield District of New Jersey, among many other districts, are having early dismissals due to heat.
Here in New York City, the mercury is set to rise to 98 degrees today (and the heat index will undoubtedly be higher). We are supposed to set a new heat record for this day. Our neighboring state of New Jersey, which tends to get a couple of degrees higher, has already called for early school dismissals today. They also let the children go home yesterday due to the heat.
The schools say they have no air conditioning and pose a real health threat to the children and the staff. I can see their point to a certain extent, but so many of us never had air conditioning in our school as kids. My kids now still don’t have air conditioning in their school, but their school is having a full day.
Are the New Jersey schools being soft?
On one hand, I can see how quickly overheated children can get simply because they don’t sit still even in extreme heat. Just this morning as I dropped my son off to school, the kids were running around the sunny schoolyard while the parents were already dripping standing in the shade at 8 a.m. A lot of older buildings can hold heat and don’t have enough ventilation to withstand intense heat and humidity. And let’s face it, when kids are hot, they don’t pay attention. Remember when we were kids and the teachers had to tell us that we were getting even hotter by fanning ourselves?
I was surprised that New Jersey cited no air conditioning as one of their main reasons for dismissing early. I wasn’t under the impression that most classrooms even had it. My kids have never had air conditioning in their schools. At their school, it’s business as usual today.
In fact, my son is right walking on a trip to a chocolate factory. I kid you not. The children were told they can bring money if they want to purchase some to take home. Can you imagine how they’ll look when they are dismissed at 2:30?
It’s possible that New Jersey schools have an extra snow day or two to use up and won’t have to extend the school year with these early dismissals. Our school closes next Friday, June 17th and I’m sure the kids would rather spend a few days in a hot school and get their summer started on time than go back for another week.
Do your kids school have air conditioning? How do you feel about early school dismissal for heat?
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10 Comments
Jess commented on Jun 09 11 at 2:03 pmOne difference between “when we were kids” and nowadays is that so many more kids have asthma, which I understand can be exacerbated by excessive heat. So, that’s a health issue…although I suppose schools could just say to families that they could keep their kids home if they’re worried about a child’s health. Certainly, though, if your classroom is hovering around 90 degrees, absolutely no work is getting done. And kids and grownups get mighty cranky in the heat…add a bunch of kids with poor impulse control/self-regulation skills and you’ve got a recipe for a “hot mess,” as they say.
Sara commented on Jun 09 11 at 2:17 pmAnd how many of these kids have air conditioning at home? They’re probably sending half of these kids home to a worse environment. It’s not like you can’t give them water and ice to cool down with.
I grew up with unairconditioned schools (in Oklahoma where it gets HOT) but the schools were designed for the weather with fans and windows. A lot of modern school designs are windowless and I know when I taught in Colorado (where it is also HOT in Aug) we technically weren’t supposed to keep the doors or windows open at all because of the terrifying crazy man who was going to come shoot us all (we did anyway) but the windows we did have were smaller and provided less ventilation than the ones in the buildings I grew up in.
jboogie commented on Jun 09 11 at 3:23 pmHoly crap, my school has air conditioning and when they turn it off in the afternoons (about 45 before school releases) to save on energy costs, my kids (and me) totally lose their minds. It’s like 80 degrees and we are all sweating and cranky and nothing is getting done. I teach a lot of football players too, and they just suck all the oxygen out of the room. I can’t imagine going to school with no air conditioning…oh my god, it must stink so bad.
starrsitter commented on Jun 09 11 at 5:08 pmMost states have regulations (usually through their Department of Public Welfare) that set guidelines for the temperature of rooms where children are. Any entity not complying would be leaving themselves open to penalties from the state. I don’t think it’s as much schools being wussies as schools covering their butts.
Danielle Sullivan commented on Jun 09 11 at 7:32 pm@Jess True, asthma is miserable and can be fatal in such conditions.
@Sara Good point, a lot of the kids might be worse off at home, not to mention working parents have to make arrangements to pick them up.
@Starsitter You’re right, a lot of it probably has to do with legalities.
Lisa commented on Jun 09 11 at 10:13 pmMost schools are concrete and/or brick. Those materials do not change temperature quickly. Once they heat up, they stay warm. Many schools have poor ventilation, lack adequate windows.
My classroom was 84 degrees the last two days with the lights off all day. My main tools for instruction would not work due to the heat. I sent home several kids who were sick.
We cancel school when it gets too cold; we should cancel school when the building gets too hot.
Kaycee commented on Jun 10 11 at 7:51 amHAHAHAHAH Welcome to FLORIDA.
TwinHappyJen commented on Jun 10 11 at 8:17 amI think one of the biggest things I take away from this is… why are our schools NOT air-conditioned? Government buildings, office buildings, stores, etc…. just about any other building you can think of nowadays, has air conditioning. And yet, when it comes to our kids, “Oh, they’ll be fine… just open a window, turn on a fan… it was fine when I was a kid.”
Why do we care about our children so little, that the places we send them to, for 6+ hours a day, 5 days a week, so that they can learn, well, everything, are usually the worst buildings in the neighborhood?
We say that our children are the most important things in our lives, for our country’s future, etc…. but, if you walk onto a public school campus, it seems like it’s all talk. And it certainly doesn’t just apply to the building and grounds themselves… why do we think it’s perfectly OK to let our kids (and the teachers and everybody else that takes care of them while they’re there) get by on scraps?
And please don’t tell me that the money isn’t there… of course it is… we’re just sending it to other things that must be much more important than our kids….
Bunnytwenty commented on Jun 10 11 at 9:29 am“And please don’t tell me that the money isn’t there… of course it is… we’re just sending it to other things that must be much more important than our kids….”
Yes, yes, and yes. Air-conditioning for kids is the least we should expect!
Canuckmom commented on Mar 17 12 at 11:25 pmMy kids’ school is air conditioned, and I live in Canada!!! It doesn’t really get hot here during the school year!
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