PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It was only the second day of the Philadelphia school year, but half of the city's public schools dismissed early Tuesday, and will again on Wednesday because of the extreme heat. Officials for the School District of Philadelphia say the school buildings lack adequate air conditioning units to cool the staff and students.
These schools, listed below, are dismissing students three hours earlier than their normal dismissal times on Tuesday and Wednesday. All after-school and athletic activities taking place at those schools will also be canceled.
The rest of the district's schools will remain open as usual.
Tuesday was expected to reach a high of about 94 degrees, then 89 degrees on Wednesday, according to AccuWeather.
Officials acknowledged that more than half of district school buildings don’t have air conditioning, either at all or not enough for children, teachers and staffers to get through very hot and humid days.
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Cassidy DiMarcello picked up her kids at the early dismissal time Tuesday at Fanny Jackson Coppin Elementary School on South 12th and Federal streets in South Philadelphia, one of the 57% of Philadelphia schools without adequate air conditioning.
“All the kids came out and they were glistening ... they were all dripping sweat," said DiMarclelo.
Classes in this 98-year-old school building ended at noon, instead of the usual 3 p.m. Teacher Carol Rafferty was not comfortable in her classrooms.
“Especially with the humidity, I sweat a lot," Rafferty said. "You just sweat. It’s very uncomfortable.”
“It was hot. Very hot. Over 90 degrees in my classroom," said a teacher who didn’t want to give her name. She said it’s difficult to concentrate when it’s that hot.
“It’s sweltering. Very sweaty. Hard to stay focused in the heat," she added.
It was stifling for second grader Julian, too.
“It was hot ... yesterday, really hot. Today, medium" Julian said.
Electrical problems complicated matters Tuesday, said Rafferty.
“We had a power outage yesterday and today on one side of the building," she said.
At a welcome back event Monday morning, Chief Operating Officer Reggie McNeil said the district has made some progress in installing AC units, but there’s still a ways to go.
“We have a lot more planning to do when it comes to our air conditioning,” he said. “But we are working toward improvement in the right direction across all of our facilities.”
Officials with the teachers union said they have been calling for such improvements for a while, adding that this goes to show how tough it is to start school before Labor Day.
With such short notice for just the second day of school, families had to scramble to make sure their kids had a place to go.
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Joseph Flemming, who has a 13-year-old at Waring Elementary, said he’s fortunate to have flexibility in his schedule and be able to pick his son up at 12:30. As far as the heat, he said it’s just better to be safe.
“I’m thinking it’s a good thing because my son has asthma,” he said, adding that it goes to show how much air conditioning is needed in every school. “We got money for war but not for the things that we really need.”
“I really would have preferred for [the district] to let the kids come back after Labor Day,” said Symone, who did not disclose her last name. She has a 12-year-old enrolled at Waring.
Unlike Flemming, she can’t leave work to pick up her son, but fortunately, her high schooler can swing by and get him.
“We make arrangements to try to figure it out, so it is what it is,” she added.
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Four out of the last five years, the district has started classes before Labor Day.
School district spokeswoman Marissa Orbanek, in a statement, said developing the school calendar is an in-depth process that considers labor contracts, state requirements and national holidays.
Starting the school year after Labor Day, she said, “does not guarantee cooler temperatures, and would require students to be in school longer into the summer.
The district has said a pre-Labor Day start allows more uninterrupted instructional time in, early in the year.
Rafferty says that plan doesn't work in buildings without air conditioning.
“You can’t get that momentum going. We start one day and then we’re half a day," said Rafferty.
"Teachers get stressed out because they have a plan. They have a schedule they want to keep and not it all kind of goes awry.”
The following is the full statement from School District of Philadelphia Communications Officer Marissa Orbanek.
"Developing the District’s academic calendar is an in-depth process that takes into account various factors, including state requirements, contractual obligations and District and national holidays. Making district-wide changes to the approved schedule can present many challenges for families, staff and students. There is an opportunity for public feedback to the calendar during the calendar development process.
"The Pennsylvania Department of Education requires public schools to provide instruction to students for 180 days. Starting after Labor Day does not guarantee cooler temperatures and would require students to be in school longer during summer months, where heat is expected to be high. Currently, our last day of school is on June 13."
The complete list of schools:
Alternative Middle Years at James Martin School
Academy for the Middle Years Northwest Middle School
Chester A. Arthur Elementary School
Bache-Martin Elementary School
Clara Barton Elementary School
James G. Blaine Elementary School
Rudolph Blankenburg Elementary School
Henry A. Brown Elementary School
William C. Bryant Elementary School
Building 21 High School
Gloria Casarez Elementary School
Castor Gardens Middle School
Joseph W. Catharine Elementary School
Central High School
Benjamin B. Comegys Elementary School
Watson Comly Elementary School
Jay Cooke Elementary School
Fanny Jackson Coppin Elementary School
Kennedy C. Crossan Elementary School
Anna B. Day Elementary School
Hamilton Disston Elementary School
James Dobson Elementary School
Paul L. Dunbar Elementary School
Franklin S. Edmonds Elementary School
Ellwood Elementary School
Eleanor C. Emlen Elementary School
D. Newlin Fell Elementary School
Feltonville Arts and Sciences
Finletter School
Fitler Academic Plus Elementary School
A.L. Fitzpatrick Elementary School
Fox Chase Elementary School
Benjamin Franklin Elementary School
Benjamin Franklin Elementary School
Franklin Learning Center High School
Horace Furness Elementary School
Edward Gideon Elementary School
Stephen Girard Elementary School
Girard Academic Music Program High School
Girls High School
Joseph Greenberg Elementary School
Warren G. Harding Middle School
Avery D. Harrington Elementary School
Charles W. Henry Elementary School
Hill-Freedman World Academy Middle School
Thomas Holme Elementary School
Francis Hopkinson Elementary School
Henry H. Houston Elementary School
Julia W. Howe Elementary School
Abram Jenks Elementary School
Jenks Academy for Arts and Sciences Elementary School
Kenderton Elementary School
Francis Scott Key Elementary School
Eliza B. Kirkbride Elementary School
Robert E. Lamberton Elementary School
Henry C. Lea Elementary School
Anna L. Lingelbach Elementary School
William H. Loesche Elementary School
James Logan Elementary School
James R. Lowell Elementary School
James R. Ludlow Elementary School
John Marshall Elementary School
Thurgood Marshall Elementary School
John F. McCloskey Elementary School
Alexander K. McClure Elementary School
Morton McMichael Elementary School
William M. Meredith Elementary School
Thomas Mifflin Elementary School
Mitchell Elementary School
J. Hampton Moore Elementary School
Robert Morris Elementary School
Andrew J. Morrison Elementary School
George W. Nebinger Elementary School
Overbrook Elementary School
Parkway West High School
John M. Patterson Elementary School
Penn Treaty High School
Joseph Pennell Elementary School
Samuel Pennypacker Elementary School
Rhawnhurst Elementary School
Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School
William Rowen Elementary School
Roxborough High School
William Sayre High School
George Sharswood Elementary School
Shawmont Elementary School
Issac A. Sheppard Elementary School
Science Leadership Academy at Beeber High School
South Philadelphia High School
Spring Garden Elementary School
Gilbert Spruance Elementary School
James J. Sullivan Elementary School
John H. Taggart Elementary School
William Tilden Middle School
The U School High School
Gen. Louis Wagner Middle School
Laura W. Waring Elementary School
George Washington High School
Martha Washington Elementary School
William H. Ziegler Elementary School
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