Chilly School Won't Turn On Heat

[deadparrot]

ATLANTA -- Students and teachers at one DeKalb County school say the freezing temperatures we saw overnight made it awful chilly inside their classrooms. They can’t understand why the school system wouldn’t turn on the heat.

The school system says no matter who cold it gets, it’s their practice to turn the heat on in all schools on October 30. Students and teachers say when the temperatures dip into the 30’s, like it did overnight and this morning, it is hard to study without heat.

“It was freezing. We were doing testing today and I couldn’t even concentrate,” said Briar Vista Elementary School student Beleyou Leulesged.

“It was like you were covered in snow,” said student Kaylah Edwards.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/10149004/detail.html

[ck4829]

1. Teachers and students have a right to not go to an ill-equipped school IMHO.

[marmar]

2. No Child Left With Heat...

That's the Bush education program.

[rurallib]

3. Bet the private schools had heat

Send the kids to private schools and lets have vouchers so we can all pay for it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. I am hoping you forgot the sarcasm smiley

[knitter4democracy]

22. Nope.

Not the ones I taught in. It's usual to wait to the end of October for heat, and I taught in Cleveland.

[Odin2005]

4. The moron who made up that rule should be tarred and feathered...

...publically, by the students.

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. I wish we could put solar shingles on all schools

[Big Kahuna]

6. Being from New England

I have a really hard time sympathising with anyone from the south kvetching about the cold.

[freeplessinseattle]

7. there's something called acclimation

most of these kids have probably lived in the south all their lives, being this cold all day long and trying to do schoolwork is a shock to their system. acclimation.I'll bet the animals there aren't prepared with all their winter fur yet either and are uncomfortably cold. are you going to sneer at them too?

hell, it doesn't get that cold here for awhile, a couple years ago it was in the 30's Thanksgiving weekend and that was unusually early. and yes, I was freezing, as was a little dog I found wandering around.

[rman]

9. I think your sympathy is not the issue.

[aquaman]

11. Yea that's right. Damn kids should get over it....

Look, you are in New England, great, you are used to cold, people in Atlanta are not. So, take your "I don't feel sorry for little kids" complex and go outside in your shorts. Better yet, go tell these kids to get over it.

[sweetpotato]

12. bet those At;anta kids

can run windsprints when its 90 degrees and 70% humidity. You want to try it?

[Connie_Corleone]

18. What does being from the south have to do with 30 degree weather?

Temperatures in the 30s is cold no matter where you come from. I guess the children have to be frozen in a block of ice before you sympathize with them.

:eyes:

Who gives a damn if New England is colder?

[elehhhhna]

19. Born & raised Chicago, now a SugarLander, and

acclimation is a BIG factor. 50 degrees down here = people in parkas and fur coats. 50 degrees in Chicago = shorts and long sleeve tees.

truefact.

[DesertRat]

8. My public school classroom roof leaks when it rains

I have to keep a bucket in the closet and pull it out when it rains...

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. The windows in my classroom are so old they won't open

They gave me a cheater bar to to open them with. That worked for about 6 months then even it didn't open them. I threw out my back opening a window.

So I bought an air conditioner, got my strong son to come over and pry a window open and now we can breathe in my classroom when it is hot outside. I run a fan every day, even in winter, to keep air circulating.

Yes, I paid for the air conditioner myself.

[tenshi816]

10. I grew up in Atlanta

and have to say that at this time of year, it's usually still warm during the day - although that clearly isn't the case this year.

It's stupid that it's an official rule not to turn on the heat before a certain date because it doesn't account for freak weather conditions (temperatures in the 30s in Atlanta in October is pretty freakish). It's unconscionable to put children through that and I'd keep my child home rather than send them to school to be cold all day. Unfortunately, for working parents that's not an option.

[FSogol]

13. I'm guessing this is a problem with the mechanical systems in the school.

They are probably using two-pipe systems which allow only heat or only a/c. They probably have to decide on a date to switch from a/c to heat. Once they switch to heat, they will be stuck with heat until the next switchover date. They should be able to warn students and teachers to dress appropriately during the transition periods. At any rate, it sounds like they need to modernize their mechanical systems.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. Probably can't afford it

They probably have an old heating system and they set it to start heating the building on a certain day.

[LWolf]

16. Common sense would be an asset here.

I know the issue; they had to budget the year last June/July when they got word of allocations for this fiscal year; if they turn it on on October 30 every year, and they didn't budget to turn it on earlier, that money has to come out of some fund that is already marked for something else. It looks like that particular district didn't leave themselves a cushion, or they couldn't leave a cushion without cutting something.

How many days before teachers begin bringing in portable electric heaters and plugging them in? Causing circuits to fry and electric bills to spike in an effort to keep everyone warm. :eyes:

[calico1]

20. This makes about as much sense as

banning Winter coats and boots after March and then having a snow storm in April. :eyes:

I do so agree about the acclimation factor. I was raised in NYC but moved to PR when I was a teen. When I moved back to the States in '87 I remember feeling like I was going to freeze that first Winter, and it was not a particularly cold one by New England standards. Now when I go back home for a visit I feel like I am going to wither from the heat, and my relatives are all cool as cucumbers. I also walk around with a light sweatshirt and long but unlined pants in 50 degree weather. It definitely takes the body time to adjust to any kind of temperature, whether colder or hotter than what you are used to.

[knitter4democracy]

21. Not unusual, and I taught in Cleveland

The kids had sweaters (no coats allowed), and I'd let them wear mittens and scarves. I always kept a very warm shawl in my room and a couple of lighter ones for cold students, and it was just part of life at the school. Btw, I taught at Catholic schools. Not turning on the heat happens everywhere--don't forget how expensive heat is and how big a part of the budget.