This week, students at Mindy Neiland’s elementary school reported suffering from headaches, nausea, and nosebleeds as a potentially record-setting heat wave swept through the West Coast, making classrooms from Los Angeles to Las Vegas uncomfortably hot.

On Thursday afternoon, Neiland checked the thermostat in her classroom located in Granada Hills, California, and found the temperature soaring at 94 degrees.

With the air conditioning out of order, she described the portable cooling unit provided by the district as “ineffective,” as it merely circulates warm air.

“My students are suffering from headaches; they feel awful and cannot focus in such conditions,” she explained.

Los Angeles Unified School District is one of many educational institutions across the nation urgently trying to repair or install cooling systems and shaded areas on their campuses due to climate change and extreme heat impacting areas that lack proper climate control in their classrooms, gyms, and playgrounds.

The extreme temperatures this summer spotlight a critical financial burden for school budgets and growing frustrations between school communities and their governing bodies regarding the need for cooling systems and shaded areas.

While many schools have managed without air conditioning for years, that situation is changing. Regions across the country that never faced the need for cooling systems are now feeling the urgent demand for facility upgrades. This summer marked the hottest on record for the Earth, surpassing last year’s previous high, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

The demand for cooling in schools has significantly increased in areas such as the Upper Northwest and states like California, Alaska, and Montana, as highlighted in a recent Climate Central study assessing cooling needs from late July through early September.

With the school year starting, rising temperatures will increasingly disrupt classroom conditions, making it harder for students to learn, according to Cassandra Davis, a public policy professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“High temperatures place additional stress on aging facilities that public schools rely on,” Davis explained. “In places where up-to-date air conditioning units are not available, it is understandable that classes may be disrupted or reduced.”

Numerous under-equipped schools enduring the late summer heat, including some in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Portland, Oregon, have had to send students home early in September due to warnings about excessive heat.

This shortened instructional time negatively impacts student learning and worsens existing achievement gaps, Davis added.

Why is There Insufficient Air Conditioning in Schools?

Many classrooms and gymnasiums can become uncomfortably hot during summer months without air conditioning, unlike in the past. In certain regions experiencing extreme temperatures for the first time, some school buildings lack essential cooling systems.

Even in areas accustomed to the heat, schools face challenges; districts must deal with outdated and malfunctioning cooling systems when heat waves occur. Maintenance workers, especially those in Los Angeles, are inundated with daily requests for repairs on air conditioning units as this school year progresses.

A staggering 50,000 air conditioning units in the Los Angeles district require replacement due to age and decay, stated Britt Vaughn, a spokesperson for the district.

Officials working on these repairs are offering teachers alternative cooling units and setting up misting fans in elementary schools to help keep outdoor dining areas cooler during hot days, Vaughn added.

In Reno, Nevada, where the requirement for air conditioning has risen according to Climate Central’s analysis, some gymnasiums constructed in the 1980s lack air conditioning systems, which were not regarded as critical at that time, according to Adam Searcy, chief operating officer of Washoe County School District.

These gymnasiums can reach temperatures of 80 degrees or higher during early summer volleyball practices, but Searcy mentioned that the district has no immediate plans to install air conditioning due to the high costs involved. However, he confirmed that future gyms will be designed with proper cooling systems.

“The escalating demand for cooling is likely to persist as global temperatures rise, requiring schools to make urgent improvements to their buildings and face increased operational costs to ensure safe and comfortable environments,” noted the Climate Central report.

Impact of Heat on Students and Teachers

The adverse effects of hot classrooms are felt by all students as they struggle to learn in unhealthy conditions, according to Davis.

Students from traditionally disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly those in low-income areas with limited access to air conditioning and shaded spaces, suffer even more as they cannot easily shift between indoor and outdoor environments.

“Having a place to cool off is essential for the wellbeing of students,” she explained.

“Historically, communities of color and those with lower income often lack sufficient tree coverage,” Davis noted. “These areas frequently face environmental hazards and have limited access to shaded areas.”

Are there any answers?

Various areas have made significant progress in dealing with these issues. While the classrooms in Chicago schools now have air conditioning units, this wasn’t always the situation.

In the past, the Chicago Teachers Union successfully negotiated with the school district to ensure that classrooms had adequate cooling, said Stacy Davis Gates, the union’s president, in an interview with YSL News. The union is now advocating for more energy-efficient solutions.

“This means not just air conditioning, but also incorporating things like solar panels on rooftops to help reduce costs,” she added.

Some areas are adjusting the school calendar to better accommodate students. Milwaukee Public Schools, for example, changed its academic schedule this year to commence in early September instead of late August. This decision was made after the district had to cancel classes due to extreme heat at the start of the previous school year.

Additionally, some regions have enacted laws or are considering regulations to mandate specific temperature levels in classrooms.

A recent workers’ rights law in California, passed in July, requires school districts to maintain comfortable temperatures in schools. Yet, some California schools report difficulties in meeting this new requirement.