‘Snow days’ used for the heat

Districts can’t afford to add air conditioning to buildings not designed for it.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Snow, ice and extreme cold are the usual culprits when schools are forced to cancel classes. This year some Ohio schools already have lost some of their “snow days” due to temperatures that hovered around 100 degrees.

Both the Dayton and Cincinnati public school districts lost whole days last month due to the high heat and humidity, and at least three other southwest Ohio public school systems let classes out earlier than usual as temperatures soared.

With many schools having no air conditioning and starting fall sessions earlier, more districts may find themselves canceling classes due to sweltering summer weather in the future. School officials, however, don’t expect the threat of hot weather to result in pre-planned calendar changes anytime soon.

Quotable

“We’re not saying that it couldn’t be an additional factor that we could look at, but our last calendar adoption was for three years,” Cincinnati Public Schools spokeswoman Janet Walsh said. “Parents especially like to have advance notice for their planning.”

The Cincinnati district missed two days, but won’t have to add any makeup days yet. The state allows schools to miss five out of the 182 days required for the regular school calendar, although those days are usually taken in winter months.

Cincinnati only lost two days last month due to the heat, but Dayton Public Schools canceled six days of classes.

“You certainly don’t welcome these kinds of disruptions, but we have to look at how the extreme heat and humidity could affect the well-being of students and staff,” Dayton schools spokeswoman Jill Moberley said.

Dayton schools started Aug. 6, but classes were canceled the rest of that week due to the high heat and humidity. The district had to cancel two more days of classes two weeks later — bringing the total to six and leaving the district with one day to make up so far this year.

If the winter proves harsh and classes are canceled again, the district would find itself looking at more makeup days.

Both Cincinnati and Dayton are counting on school construction projects to help them avoid future “heat days.” By 2010, Dayton pupils should all be in air-conditioned schools, and Cincinnati schools should all have air conditioning in four years.

Fairfield City Schools in nearby Butler County didn’t miss any days but let classes out two hours early last Wednesday.

First priority

“Of our 10 buildings, only four are fully air-conditioned, and safety and health factors have to be our first priority,” Fairfield spokesman Randy Oppenheimer said.

Oppenheimer said one of the biggest problems in canceling classes or closing early involves transportation.

“In our district we have 10 schools, but we bus students to 30 schools,” Oppenheimer said. “Schools run on fairly long established routines and it’s not easy when you break that routine.”

Scott Ebright, spokesman for the Ohio School Boards Association, said there isn’t much schools can do to avoid weather closings, even in the summer.