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52 Philly schools dismiss early over heat and lack of AC
52 Philadelphia public schools dismissed early Tuesday due to heat and no AC, per the School District. All in-person after-school activities canceled.
PHILADELPHIA - More than 50 Philadelphia public schools dismissed students early on Tuesday because of a blast of late summer heat and inadequate air conditioning, according to the School District of Philadelphia. The district announced that both affected schools and early childhood programs would follow the early dismissal schedule and all in-person after-school activities were canceled.
Many Philadelphia schools still lack proper cooling as heat soars
Teachers, students and parents are facing discomfort in buildings without air conditioning. Temperatures reached into the mid 80s Tuesday, with forecasts calling for highs in the 90s and added humidity.
"The classroom doesn’t have AC right so I don’t think the school has central AC, so I think it’s a good idea," said Carl Henzy, a South Philadelphia parent.
Some teachers say the environment inside classrooms is even more stifling. "I feel like it may be upper 80s in there… there’s just not a lot of air moving around the rooms," said Joanna Gallagher, a teacher at Fell School in South Philadelphia.
Why Philly schools are split on closing or staying open
Classroom time is being lost in schools without cooling, and advocates argue it’s not fair.
"It’s inequitable you have schools there and there that are open and those kids are getting instruction," Gallagher said. When asked why, she answered, "Because they have air."
Right next door to Fell, Mastry Charter School-Thomas Campus stayed open since it has central air, while Fell’s students headed home. The School District of Philadelphia said the number of schools with inadequate cooling went from 118 to 52 in the past three years. The district said it is moving from separate, immediate renovations to integrating cooling upgrades into a broader modernization plan over the next decade.
For some, that’s not fast enough. "If they had not let the systems deteriorate like this we would not have this problem and we would have air in all the schools in the city," said Arthur Steinberg, president of the Philadelphia Teachers Union. "And then you combine that with the district concentration on closing schools instead of fixing them and it’s a situation that could have been avoided.
District policy is to dismiss students early if temperatures are forecasted to reach 85 degrees by noon.
What's next:
Hot and humid conditions are expected to continue through the week, and the district could enforce more early dismissals if forecasts call for 85 degrees or higher by noon. The district’s long-term modernization plan aims to address ongoing cooling problems, but many schools will remain without adequate air for now.
What we don't know:
It is not clear exactly when all 52 affected schools can expect to have new cooling systems installed. Details on how the modernization plan will be funded, or which schools will be prioritized for upgrades, have not been provided by the district.
The Source: Information provided by the School District of Philadelphia.