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 and New Jersey cited inadequate air conditioning in cutting days short. One Massachusetts district canceled two days of classes because of hot classrooms. 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.
Having worked in public education for nearly a decade, I can tell you that many of those homes are not fit to adequately cool the children either and many of the parents are not adequately fit to deal with their kids during a surprise early dismissal. Some of those kids will probably die at home.
Cut the athletics budget and use the funds to cool your fucking schools. It’s too damn hot for sports anyway.
Christ, imagine you get a day off school and you still gotta do online. I’d be pissed.
I feel really bad for my daughter. She doesn’t get snow days like I did when I was a kid. Give them a day off if the snow is 2 feet deep and let them go sledding for fuck’s sake!
I think my kids got one snow day last year. I used to have the all the time. These hot days are new for us.
I wasn’t talking about climate change. When schools were closed due to snow, my daughter had to do virtual schooling on her Chromebook. Kids should be allowed to have fun.
My kids school doesn’t do that
