It's supposed to be cooler inside.
“It’s 101 degrees inside the Rishel building”!
“My daughter got overheated today and sick to her stomach because she was so hot.”
“It’s practically child abuse to require children to sit in such unbearably hot classrooms; they certainly can’t focus on their education when they are so overheated.”
These are just a few of the comments the board received today in response to the ridiculously-hot classrooms. One parent has the solution, though:
I understand that retrofitting an air conditioning system into this old building is totally cost-prohibitive. But, a simple, practically cost-free solution exists: change the start date of the school year until after Labor Day. By September, temperatures in Denver have come down several degrees. While it still may be hot, the number of oppressive days declines. Conversely, the weather in May and June is often cool and rainy. (How many times has it snowed for Mother’s Day in recent years?) Extending the school year into June, while starting in September, would thus allow the school year to naturally coincide with cooler times of the year, and substantially ease the burden on kids attending school in buildings that lack air conditioning.
Indeed.
Mary Seawell, Jeannie Kaplan and I are going to work on moving the school year so that it starts later. There isn’t any hard-and-fast reason that our kids are starting so early. So we’re going to immediately begin to look at the possibilities.
This is too hard on our kids and teachers. What do you think?
I always got the impression that the change (when my 12-grade daughter was in 1st grade, DPS started in September) was either to align DPS with Cherry Creek and other suburban districts, or to add two more weeks before CSAPs. What is the reason the administration gives?
Oh wait, there’s been so much turnover in the administration over that time, I doubt if anyone there remembers.
Yes, I heard something along those lines too. I can’t immediately see how aligning our calendar with theirs has any real purpose. What else do you remember about that?
Even tho I am not in Denver, my kids went to school in Colorado…grands did too…I completely agree with that one parent’s beginning and ending times….that is when I went to school in Omaha…started after Labor Day, got out around the first week in June…had PLENTY of hot hot summer left…there is nothing more plesant than to be able to go to school with the temperature down below the 100 degree mark…even 80’s can be too hot in an un-airconditioned school…as was the case in my parochial school…and also in my home…I had NO relief…to this day, I hate the heat!
The east side of Smiley Middle school starts the day at 88˚F. By about 10am it is 95+ with two fans and a vent. The kids are sweating like crazy just sitting there… not to mention their teacher.
I hope that the rest of the school board sees the justice in moving the start date into September. It is absolutely unreasonable (and cruel!) to expect our children to learn, and our teachers to teach, in these oppressively hot conditions! Sure, some of the newer schools have air conditioning (lucky!), but most schools in Denver are OLD! Doesn’t matter how many fans are placed around the building, all they do is move hot air around (most fans, by the way, are purchased by teachers or parents. God forbid the district do anything to make things better!). I wonder how many board members go to work every day and try to concentrate as they sweat through their clothes, get a headache from overheating, and become nauseous?
Andrea, I wish you, Mary and Jeannie the best of luck with this fight! I know the 3 of you have an uphill battle with the rest of the school board members, most of whom don’t really seem to give a hoot about education, our children or our teachers! (Everyone vote for Emily Sirota in the November elections! She will be one more voice that is on OUR side!)
The reason DPS starts earlier is because of state testing. They want those extra couple of weeks for instruction.
How much instruction is happening when it’s so hot in the classrooms, I wonder?
For the actual record, it’s gotten as hot at 91.5 in my classroom for the past two days in a row. Luckily, a friend loaned me a portable swamp cooler for my room. We’ll see if it helps any.
I’ve got a suggestion: lets move the CSAP test to April instead of March.
Actually, I think that’s something Elaine Berman might be able to help with. I’d actually advocate it for going even later.
I am in full support of changing the calendar. “Anonymous…” is correct with the start date “forced” upon districts because of state testing. 3rd grade students begin reading testing in February and the other grades and contents are tested in March. Other districts have moved their start date earlier in August in order to allow for more days to prepare for state testing. However, I believe most suburban districts have air conditioning in their schools. Most remodels or additions in DPS still do not install air conditioning which seems more of a waste of money than not doing the work to make it happen. That’s another area to address Andrea and I am sure you will hear the cost issue come up but they district spends over $400k on “learning landscapes” according to a 9 news interview.
I heard that it would cost DPS close to $1 billion dollars to install air conditioning in their buildings. That is a lot of money so I fully support Andrea and the other board members in their effort to change the calendar. If we are really here because of our students then let us be driven by what is right and just. Move the new TCAP (former CSAP) to the end of the year so we can also assess our students on a full school year of instruction. Andale Andrea, Jeannie and Mary!
So far, I’m seeing that districts have a tight window to administer the CSAP, which for 2011 was February 22 – March 4, 2011 for 3rd grade reading and March 14 – April 15, 2011 for everything else. I’m getting a read from a member of the state Senate Education Committee to see if there might be wiggle room in that schedule.
If there isn’t enough wiggle room, let’s lobby our State Senators and Representatives to create more wiggle room. Should still be able to get it done early next year in time to change the 2012-13 school year.
Just to update,
Smiley Middle school 2nd floor was 103˚ by 10:30 this morning. By 11:30 the 2nd floor was 105˚ (that is with the school’s vent system and two fans going in the classroom).
Yesterday a student passed out at school and had to spend 4 hours in the emergency room from heat exhaustion and dehydration.
The teacher dares the administration to do a formal evaluation (or even 15 minutes) in his classroom on one of these days… oh, but the admin building is air conditioned. I doubt the suits will be venturing out anytime soon.
My classroom is usually 100 degrees by 11am. I am on the 2nd floor, east facing classroom, in an old brick building. I even have a swamp cooler in my classroom and it is still 100+!! (Thanks to the parents who purchased this for us!!!) Can’t imagine what it would be like without it! Tom Boasberg visited our school and many others. When he was in our school he said something along the lines of “there are much hotter schools than this in the district”. Absurd! I myself am home today with my child who is sick from heat exhaustion. I have taken pictures of thermometers throughout the school and will be sending them to my board members and elected officials.
It is required by law that our children attend school. So we are “required” to “abuse” our children. Many might not agree with that statement, but that is just my perspective. I am entitled to my opinion as you are yours. So, what then, is the solution? I realize air conditioning is cost prohibitive and as an educator I’d rather have the $400 million (if that is even an accurate estimate) go into our classrooms. However, there are many free or inexpensive solutions. Here are some of my ideas:
1. Move the school start date (as so many have already suggested)
2. Install ventilation systems in schools that don’t have them (like mine)
3. Provide cold water for every classroom. (There are those systems that hook right up to the water supply and provide constant cold, filtered water.)
4. Provide swamp coolers for classrooms (or maybe just the hottest classrooms)
Many of you are taking the necessary steps to promote change. Keep writing letters to our elected officials. WE elect THEM to advocate for our needs. If they don’t want to hear us out, they are replaceable, and elections are two short months away.