In response to rising temperatures due to climate change, AUSD is set to explore a range of heat mitigation strategies to help keep teachers and students cool over the coming years. The response was triggered by a week of record-breaking heat in October, which brought temperatures in some classrooms into the mid 80s.
“We know these high temperatures make teaching and learning very difficult,” says Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi. “And we are very grateful for the hard work of students and staff during these heat waves. We know it has been tough on everyone, and we are committed to reducing that stress over the coming years.”
Historical weather patterns
Although Alameda has historically enjoyed mild weather, average temperatures are now rising and heat waves, especially in the fall, are occurring more often and for longer periods of time. Since the year 2000, in fact, the number of school days reaching above 80 degrees has increased from 15 to 17 days.
AUSD’s buildings were not built for those rising temperatures. Currently, 50% of our classrooms have air conditioning (and all new buildings include AC). Other classrooms benefit from ceiling fans, double-paned windows, new ventilation systems, and portable fans. But many of the remaining classrooms – especially those facing the sun – get very hot on hot days.
Aging facilities, aging infrastructure
While it’s easy to say the district should just install centralized or portable air conditioners, our aging buildings and electrical systems may not be able to support that much electrical load. And completely overhauling our buildings could be prohibitively expensive.
AUSD is not the only school district challenged by rising temperatures. More than two-thirds of schools in this state are at least 25 years old – many are much older – and most were not built with rising temperatures in mind. Across the state, 15 to 20 percent of all K-12 public schools have no functioning heating or air conditioning; another 10 percent need major repair or replacement. Given that the state government does not provide money to maintain or modernize schools, this work can be dauntingly expensive for school districts.
A range of strategies
Despite these challenges, AUSD leadership has committed to exploring and implementing a range of heat mitigation strategies over the next several years. Short-term strategies could include:
- More portable fans
- Identifying cooler spaces for both students and staff on each campus
- Reminding teachers to keep windows and doors open to optimize natural ventilation
Long-term strategies include:
- Ceiling fans
- Active cooling systems such as heat pumps, split-level air conditioners
- Centralized air conditioning
- Planting trees
- Tinted window film
- Installing shade structures
- Cool roof designs
As a pilot project this fall, AUSD is installing ceiling fans in a variety of classrooms at Paden Elementary and Maya Lin Schools, ceiling fans in AHS’s E building (along Encinal Avenue), reflective film at Maya Lin School, and air conditioning in one room at Franklin Elementary. These small projects are meant to test the efficacy of the various measures as well as provide data on the potential cost of more widespread implementation.
Funding for these strategies has yet to be decided, but it is possible that the scope of some Measure B projects could be reduced to free up funds or the money could be taken out of the General Fund.
The first steps include identifying the classrooms that need cooling strategies and researching the costs of various solutions. The rubric for prioritizing classrooms will be presented to the Board of Education in December.
“As a board, we are committed to addressing the high temperatures in some of our classrooms,” says Board President Jennifer Williams. “The facility and funding challenges are very real, but we know that we need to be able to keep our schools and classrooms cooler as climate change intensifies.”
Staff will provide a short update on this project at its November 12 meeting. The slide deck for the October 22 Board of Education meeting is available here; video of that agenda item is available here.