Current:Home > MySchools dismiss early, teach online as blast of heat hits northeastern US -Infinite Edge Learning
Schools dismiss early, teach online as blast of heat hits northeastern US
View
Date:2025-04-17 10:34:02
A blast of late summer heat caused disruptions Wednesday for schools from Michigan to Virginia, with some districts dismissing students early and others holding classes online just days into the new academic year.
While temperatures weren’t as high as last month’s triple-digit deadly heat wave, schools in states including Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia cited inadequate air conditioning in cutting days short this week. Temperatures in the mid-90s also led to online learning in Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
Only 20% of public schools in Detroit, where the temperature reached 89 degrees Tuesday but dropped Wednesday, have air conditioning. The district dismissed its roughly 54,000 students three hours early Wednesday for the second consecutive day.
“We never want to inconvenience our families with early releases, but we also do not want our staff and students to be so uncomfortable that teaching and learning becomes a distraction to the heat,” Detroit Public Schools Community District spokeswoman Chrystal Wilson said in a statement.
The early dismissals caused headaches for families who had to scramble to make last-minute schedule changes.
Parent Natesha Myers, who works from home, opted to keep her 5-year-old daughter with her. Myers said she would not have been able to pick her daughter up from her Detroit school three hours early because of scheduled work meetings.
“It was very difficult and stressful,” Myers said. “I had to give her the iPad. She kept trying to climb on my lap.”
Late summer heat isn’t unusual. But temperatures at the start of the school year have been getting warmer for years.
For instance, Philadelphia’s expected high of 95 on Wednesday is 13 degrees higher than the normal high for the day, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. The holiday weekend also followed the hottest August scientists have ever recorded with modern equipment; scientists blame human-caused climate change.
The first week of school in Philadelphia this week saw early dismissals for dozens of schools “without air conditioning or inadequate cooling.” The district announced Wednesday that more than 80 schools would end classes early the rest of the week.
District spokeswoman Monique Braxton said many schools need upgraded electrical systems to support air conditioning.
“We’re in an old city,” she said. “Most of our buildings are old facilities. We’re making adjustments as necessary.”
In Baltimore, where temperatures climbed to the upper 90s, inadequate heating and air conditioning systems have also long been a problem.
Officials released a plan in 2017 to make all necessary improvements and repairs within roughly five years. While that deadline has been pushed back for issues including the expense, the number of city schools without air conditioning has decreased from 75 to 11, according to district officials.
Nationwide, an estimated 36,000 schools need to update or install HVAC systems, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report in 2020.
On Wednesday, Baltimore schools without air conditioning dismissed some students early and assigned others to virtual learning for the rest of the week.
In Pittsburgh, students and staff in nearly 40 schools also pivoted to remote learning.
Returning to online learning in times of extreme weather — from hurricanes to water crises — has become more common after the pandemic, though remote instruction has long-term shortcomings.
Health experts warn that exposure to excessive heat can cause dehydration or heat exhaustion, among other things, while teachers say sweltering classrooms make it difficult to do their jobs.
“Teachers are concerned about the environment being conducive to education. They were thankful to have the relief,” said Detroit Federation of Teachers President Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins said of the early dismissals.
___
Associated Press writers Brooke Schultz in Harrisburg, Penn., Lea Skene in Baltimore, and AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.
veryGood! (68593)
Related
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- Supreme Court allows ATF to enforce ghost gun rules for now
- The Book Report: Washington Post critic Ron Charles (August 6)
- The Latest BookTok Obsessions You Need to Read
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Post-GOP walkout, Oregon elections chief says lawmakers with 10 or more absences can’t run next term
- ESPN BET to launch this fall; Dave Portnoy says Barstool bought back from PENN Entertainment
- Jamie Lee Curtis' graphic novel shows how 'We're blowing it with Mother Nature'
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- Tory Lanez sentenced to 10 years for Megan Thee Stallion shooting
Ranking
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- 3 years and 300 miles later, Texas family reunited with lost dog
- Niger’s military junta, 2 weeks in, digs in with cabinet appointments and rejects talks
- Which NFL teams will join playoff field in 2023? Ranking options from least to most likely
- Who are the most valuable sports franchises? Forbes releases new list of top 50 teams
- Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 90, falls at home and goes to hospital, but scans are clear, her office says
- Former Tigers catcher and analyst Jim Price dies at 81
- Texas man on trip to spread father’s ashes dies of heat stroke in Utah’s Arches National Park
Recommendation
Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
Colin Cowherd includes late Dwayne Haskins on list of QBs incapable of winning Super Bowls
Coup leaders close Niger airspace as deadline passes to reinstate leader
'Kokomo City' is an urgent portrait of Black trans lives
San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
University of Georgia fires staffer injured in fatal crash who filed lawsuit
More than 40,000 Americans are genetically related to 27 enslaved people excavated from Maryland
Insurance settlement means average North Carolina auto rates going up by 4.5% annually