Too hot for school?
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia School District by the Philadelphia Inquirer's Kristen Graham.
Too hot for school?
Kristen Graham
With temperatures expected to hover around 80 degrees at midday, Monday is far from the hottest June day the region has seen.
But all Philadelphia School District schools are closing at noon, a move that has some scratching their heads.
"The decision was based on the weather forecast," spokesman Fernando Gallard said - weather forecasts officials looked at on Sunday called for a high of 85, with high humidity.
A district press release issued on Sunday said that "temperatures are expected to soar to the upper 90's tomorrow in Philadelphia." Gallard said that was an error.
"The majority of our buildings are not air conditioned, and they do retain heat. It is our experience that if you have two hot days where you don't have the opportunity to air the buildings out, that builds up to having a very hot day on a Monday," Gallard said. "We made a decision, and we move forward with it."
Students' final day of class is Thursday. Many high school and eighth grade graduations are scheduled for this week, but Gallard said he knew of only one scheduled for today - Lincoln High's. That will continue as scheduled, he said - Lincoln is a new building and is air conditioned.
Gallard said that cost was no consideration in the decision to close. The district is in a dire fiscal situation, with a $218 million budget shortfall for 2012-13 that it must finance through borrowing that comes on top of more than $700 million in cuts made this 2011-12 school year. But "cost is not a consideration at all," Gallard said.
Make no mistake - the district's largely old, unairconditioned buildings can be sweltering, even before temperatures hit the '90s. But I'm interested in hearing your take - Philly school staff, students and parents - what were conditions like in your building today?
the chillins are held until the district can serve them lunch. once lunch is served the disctict can bill the state for the ENTIRE day. otherwise, the district does not receive payment and will have to plan to be open for another day during the year.
the only problem i see here is that now there is more time to go wiling and rob.beat people on the streets. school aged teens should be banned from center city district— raynesrock- Thanks for this article. My colleagues and I have plans for our students all week and this cancellation disrupted them. We also have end-of-the-year work to do, but the building was closed as soon as the last child left. Please know that when there's a blizzard and it's dangerous to drive, I really appreciate a snow day, but closing school on Monday because it was hot on Sunday makes no sense at all. The forecast was never for temps in the 90s and neither we nor our students will melt. We had kids whimpering about the weather this morning when it was still 73 degrees because they heard it would be getting hot later in the day.
When the temperature climbs toward 100, by all means close the schools; otherwise, please be reasonable - and don't jump the gun.— Devoted Teacher - chop118, hysterical........disrupt their education. have you seen the test scores in philly. parents don't want it because they don't want their little darlings home with them all day. After all, as Ackerman said, some of them don't eat once they leave the building. Have you seen the size of some of the children in philly?????— dontlikedems
- I taught today and my children(students) learned!— Dian2350
- I can't say I'm surprised, but it is a bit ridiculous. I went to public school in NY in the 90s and we did not have AC, and school was never dismissed early due to heat. Teachers opened the windows, closed the blinds, turned out the lights etc...whatever it took to make it more comfortable. We also had final exams (and state Regents exams) late in mid June which meant you worked until the end of the year to prepare. Philly schools are a joke! After college, I worked at an organization that did behavioral research in Philly schools...let me just tell you, 3/4 of the TEACHERS could barely speak proper English so it's no surprise that the students can't either.— SJUSteve
- All in all, probably not a big deal. But it does tickle me to read this kind of decision by the District. When I was in Catholic school in the 1950s we had to wear white shirt, coat and tie. They did open the windows. The only relief from the heat was if dispensation from the coat and tie requirement was granted.— Falls Ed
- "Philly teachers get paid $25,000 less a year than suburban teachers for a harder gig. What makes you imagine we're not dedicated? We most certainly don't stay in it for the big bucks."
That's the breaks. I've had jobs where depending on the company I make less than if I was with a different company. Do you think all jobs in one field pay the same amount of money everywhere? I can't speak for you but if the majority of teachers were dedicated, they'd be up in arms and the teacher's union would call a press conference urging the district to keep schools open all day. They would do the same if it was too hot and school was in session all day. Why not do it when the situation is reversed?— AvoidSundanceVacations - Do you really hallucinate that teachers in the district have an iota of power? A few years ago, Philly was the only district not to close in the middle of a blizzard that shut down the state. Teachers attempting to get to work were in traffic accidents all over the city. Two women I knew had their cars totalled (one still has a back injury that flares up occasionally). The district could have cared less about our safety or concerns. Please find one link that reports teachers getting "up in arms" about having to stay at school on a hot day and post it here (good luck).
If you think teacher's opinions mean anything at all to district officials, you haven't been avoiding the sun nearly as much as you should be.— Devoted Teacher - As a teacher it is hot in the classrooms. YOu cannot open windows but about a 1/4 way up. The sun blazes inside, and there are children with health conditions that warrant cooler air. YOu can definitely feel the different walking into the building from outside. I think the district did the right thing allowing children to get into a cooler building at their home.— cody121979
- A Nation of wusses, I wonder if the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan got a half day off today besause of the heat— rblack
- Nation of wusses....right Eddie?— bobcitydoc
- My daughter has finals this week as well as final project presentations. This whole half day created a big mess for students who won't get to make their presentations this week because they missed a class period. Their whole final exam grade will be based on the written assignment instead of both the written and oral. Don't say school is over because it most certainly is not. This is just creating confusion for the students— cocoboston
During the school year, you’ll frequently find her hosting live chats about the district on Philly.com. Please do pass along the scoop about what’s going on at your Philadelphia public school; Kristen welcomes tips, story ideas and witty banter at kgraham@phillynews.com or 215-854-5146.
You can also follow Kristen on Twitter here.
