Heat wave: 86 Philly schools and some suburban districts will dismiss early all week

As heat continued to grip the region, Philadelphia School District officials announced they would schedule early dismissals all week for schools that lack air-conditioning.

Early dismissals had been called at 74 schools for Tuesday and Wednesday. Oz Hill, the district’s chief operating officer, announced the Thursday and Friday early closures midday Wednesday.

The district added 12 schools to the list because they lack adequate cooling. The additional schools are: Locke, Morrison, Bridesburg, Ethan Allen, Feltonville Intermediate, Benjamin Franklin Elementary, Grover Washington, Hunter, Joseph H. Brown, Bartram High School, Mastbaum High School, and the Workshop School.

“Thank you for your patience and flexibility as we navigate extreme heat conditions during our first week of school. Despite the heat, we are excited to welcome all our students back for school year 2023-2024!” Hill wrote in a letter to families and staff.

Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said Tuesday, Philadelphia’s first day of school, that he’s frustrated that he still needs to think about cutting school time short because of a lack of air-conditioning. The North Carolina districts where he worked for decades before coming to Philadelphia in 2022 haven’t needed to worry about whether they can afford to air-condition schools for two decades.

» READ MORE: Forecasted heat wave will dismiss some Philly schools early Tuesday and Wednesday

“And those weren’t Rockefeller-rich school districts,” Watlington said. “I think this is one of the vestiges of historical underfunding.”

Officials have said they can’t afford to fully air-condition all Philadelphia schools until 2027. The issue is not the cooling units themselves, but the antiquated electrical systems inside many schools. The average Philadelphia school building is more than 70 years old.

Conditions inside many schools remained sweltering Wednesday.

» READ MORE: Philly schools won’t be fully air-conditioned until 2027. Here’s why.

Sharee Himmons, a paraprofessional at Fitler Elementary in Germantown, works on the third floor, where it was “extremely hot and humid,” she said. “I’m just hoping the students and staff don’t pass out.”

Himmons said she was dizzy by early morning. Classrooms have fans, but they weren’t helping much; the school’s library and main office are air-conditioned. Her school is dismissing early all week.

Across the region, other districts followed in closing schools early due to heat.

Upper Darby, Chester Upland, and Pennridge all announced early dismissals to run through Thursday.

Other districts had partial closures: Cheltenham High School called early dismissals due to lack of air-conditioning in many rooms, while encouraging students to bring water in the mornings and offering free bottled water between classes.

» READ MORE: For 113,000 Philly district students, it’s back to school

In Central Bucks, administrators told families that in schools lacking full air-conditioning, they would use fans and move students through air-conditioned spaces, including gymnasiums and cafeterias.

”If after exercising these mitigation strategies it is determined we cannot safely manage our buildings, we may authorize an early dismissal to prioritize the well-being of our students and staff,” Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh said in a message to families Monday.

He asked them to send children to school with water bottles and to contact their school’s principal or health office if their child has a health condition that could be affected by the heat.

In South Jersey, the Lenape Regional High School District called early dismissals for Wednesday and Thursday. So did the Camden school district; Superintendent Katrina McCombs said she was also monitoring the forecast for Friday and school schedules may be affected then, too.

McCombs said all after-school and evening activities will also be canceled. She alerted parents that buses bringing students home may be as many as 40 minutes late because of citywide early dismissals.