Several schools in Colorado USA have been without air conditioning in some of the hottest temperatures recorded this summer. The schools are homed in Pueblo, a particularly arid area with a substantial amount of desert land and so it goes without saying that this area is no stranger to exceedingly high temperatures during the long summer months, reaching as high as 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent years.
A combination of old buildings and soaring temperatures has meant that classrooms have been almost unbearable for students heading back to school after their summer holidays. Unfortunately, due to many of the buildings being so old it seems that air conditioning is not present in the majority of them. Scott Jones, director of PR for District 60 (the area in Colorado) has said, “Most of these schools in Pueblo are relatively old, and as such, when they were built, putting air conditioning into these schools was not a usual occurrence”.
To combat the heat, teachers and pupils are resorting to a number of different methods, from opening all the windows they can as early as possible, to bringing fans into classrooms, to encouraging the pupils to wear light summer clothes and remember to bring water with them each day. Scott Jones has described the schools as having taken “a more proactive role,” in coming up with ideas to help their pupils survive the heat.
Several pupils at the affected high schools have been interviewed and many have shown a mature attitude towards the difficult situation, one pupil, Rosalia Aguler, who is a sophomore attending East High School said, “We don’t really complain about it. It is hot. We have to deal with it. It is school”. Despite the efforts of both pupils and teachers to deal with the heat as best they can, it is feared that if the heatwave continues then unfortunately schools may have to be closed, or implicate early closures until the heat subsides.
It appears that schools in this state are not the only ones to have suffered due to lack of substantial air conditioning as pupils in both North Carolina and Washington have been suffering due to high temperatures and faulty air con. Some schools even had reported closures due to the insufferable heat, after having only been open for a matter of days following the summer holidays.
Luckily, we don’t often see temperatures this high in the UK, but this summer we have seen our fair share of hot weather. Don’t suffer with uncomfortable temperatures and lack of air conditioning, we have a wide range of air conditioning units available for both residential and commercial properties. Browse our range online today, and don’t hesitate to contact our helpful customer service team if you require assistance or should you have any further questions.