(HARTFORD, CONN.) - Educators, unions and municipalities are asking the Lamont Administration and lawmakers to invest in new HVAC systems for schools state-wide, arguing soaring temperatures in the class room present obstacles to learning.
According to Connecticut Education Association President Kate Dias, a math teacher at Manchester High School, her second-floor classroom would often reach ninety five degrees with 78 percent humidity, exacerbated by a black top roof that radiated heat. She called those conditions not conducive to learning.
When Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) Executive Director Fran Rabinowitz was interim Superintendent of Schools in Bridgeport, she often sent students home because the intense heat was unsafe, she said.
In a CAPSS poll that had 100 districts responding, 233 elementary and 42 high schools indicated that they lacked air conditioning.
Stakeholders have said that American Rescue Plan money is not the answer because it has to be used for other issues.
Newtown is looking to replace the HVAC system in three schools at a cost of nearly $19-million.
Related
