More joining the ranks for cool air in Baltimore County schools
The quest for air conditioning continued during last night's public hearing on Baltimore County's capital budget for the 2011 fiscal year, with about a dozen people - including one shy but brave student - from Westowne Elementary and Ridgely Middle schools chiming in.
Parent after parent stepped up to the microphone to describe children feeling faint in their classrooms, or dealing with nausea, headaches and flushed faces dripping with sweat. Several referred to Westowne's music room - apparently a very small space - as "the sauna," while others described the difficulty of working and moving around the building with special education students in "sweltering" conditions.
Last night's theme followed a rather heated exchange about the situation at Ridgely Middle, where parents have long been asking the district to do something about the high temperatures they've recorded in classrooms on hot days.
The middle school parents, who have organized a group called Friends of Ridgely, were sporting tags at yesterday's hearing that read: "103 degrees is NOT a Learning Environment."
Laura Mullen, whose daughter attends Ridgely, warned school officials that they weren't going away.
I'm told to expect a rally drawing attention to this issue in the weeks ahead.
Categories: Baltimore County, School Finance
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Comments
I went to Ridgely and can attest to everything they're saying. This is ridiculous.
Posted by: Tyler | May 21, 2009 8:05 AM
Is anything happening in Baltimore City?
Posted by: wise educator | May 21, 2009 8:30 AM
I think the problem is some of the city buildings are so old that retro-fitting becomes even more of a challenge.
But there is no reason that individual classrooms could not have window units.
Posted by: James from Hampden | May 21, 2009 12:54 PM
I haven't heard of anyone specifically addressing the lack of A/C in the classrooms. Perhaps some parent groups or principals have requested it.
I work for the ACLU of MD's Education Reform Project and we're looking at how the city can modernize all schools. Given the current city and state funding, City Schools will have to continue their patch work and only renovate a a few schools every couple of years.
There are ways that the city can generate more revenue and use innovative financing models to renovate many more schools. The hard part is convincing the mayor, city council, and the state to commit to a significant investment in our educational infrastructure.
If you're interested in being part of this initiative, please contact me at patinella@aclu-md.org
Posted by: Frank Patinella | May 21, 2009 2:07 PM
When these buildings were designed what were the opening and closing dates of the school year? And what were the anticipated class sizes?
The buildings were never designed for classroom attendance between memorial and labor day holidays nor were they intended to have the "heat load" from the extra bodies in the rooms.
Smaller classes and a SHORTER school year... why it's almost revolutionary!
Posted by: MrRational | May 21, 2009 8:58 PM
I am not sure what County Executive, Jim Smith, is up to but he is either playing a budget game, doing political payback or has just plain lost him mind. Remodeling class rooms for air coolers and then not putting them in is just plain crazy. Jim has lost my respect as a political figure and needs to go. I have sent him three eMails and called his office without a reply. What kind of public servant has he become?
Posted by: Brennan | May 23, 2009 11:06 AM