Vomiting, cramps and lethargy: As heat rises, kids are sweltering in schools with no A/C

[quaint]

CalMatters

Between 15 and 20% of California’s kindergarten through 12th grade public schools “have no functioning heating and air conditioning systems at all, and as many as another 10% of schools need major repair or replacement for their systems to function adequately,” UC Berkeley and Stanford University researchers wrote in a report last year. Some advocates say that is likely an underestimate.

School officials say they would need tens of billions of dollars to install and repair air conditioning. Many of the worst problems are in hot, inland school districts that serve low-income communities of color, where there are fewer financial resources to replace or repair themh.

Gov. Gavin Newsom last month vetoed a bill that would have created a master plan for climate-resilient schools, including an assessment of when air conditioning systems were last modernized. State officials currently do not collect data on air conditioning in schools.

A state program, called CalSHAPE, helps public schools improve air conditioning and water systems. Between 2021 and 2023, more than 3,800 schools were awarded $421 million to assess their systems, with 11 undertaking major repairs or replacements.

However, in August, state legislators considered eliminating the program as part of a plan to give utility ratepayers small rebates. Although the bill failed, the program has been closed to new applications since July. More than a dozen school districts have urged the state Energy Commission to reopen applications.

A real crisis.

[Retrograde]

1. Climate change

It used to be OK - late September - early October has usually been the hottest time of the year here in the Bay Area, but we'd' have 2-3 days in the high 90s or low 100s and then the marine layer would come in and cool things down. So far, we've had high temps since Monday, and more predicted for next week. And there have been several stretches of hot weather this summer.

I don't have AC, and it used to be OK because temps would drop at night. But I don't think schools - or people who live in apartments - can keep their windows open all night and get a good cross breeze to bring the inside temps down. Ideally, I'd like to see us build schools that are more in tune with their environments (i.e., what works in Bakersfield won't necessarily work by the coast) but we also need a shorter term solution