Philly schools’ early dismissal because of heat is another reminder of the district’s building conditions

As temperatures reached the mid-90s Tuesday, Philadelphia schools made the decision to dismiss classes early — but not before teachers and students sweated it out.

Mary Ellen Stevens, a teacher at Middle Years Academy, said her classroom was 81 degrees when she arrived at school with window fans that she had to purchase herself. (Later in the morning, Stevens was permitted to take her class to an air-conditioned faculty lounge, she said.)

At the U School, teacher Gianni Gaudino has a window unit for his room. But it’s too small to effectively cool the space, so his students huddled around the air conditioner.

On Tuesday night, officials said schools would operate on a regular schedule Wednesday.

“We will continue to monitor temperatures in our schools throughout the day tomorrow, especially those schools that may not have a working air conditioning system,” the district’s communications office said in the email. “In the event that temperatures in a school become extreme for students and staff, we will make school-level decisions about early dismissals as needed for everyone’s well-being.”

In a district where 40% of the buildings have central air and 60% rely on room air conditioners — though that might mean just a few rooms are air-conditioned — hot temperatures are another reminder of Philly’s facilities crisis, said City Councilmember Helen Gym. Many of the district’s buildings do not have the electrical service necessary to support whole-school air-conditioning.

“Today is a really good example of how much Philadelphia schoolchildren are shortchanged on their academics simply because our schools are not equipped to have air-conditioning,” Gym said.

Gym is a former district teacher. Her classroom was on the fifth floor of Lowell Elementary in Olney with no air-conditioning, and it felt unbearable on hot days. “Your temperature can easily hit the 90s when it’s in the 80s, and it goes exponentially higher on a day like today,” said Gym.

The school system has $5 billion in deferred maintenance costs. It has been upgrading electrical systems and adding air-conditioning in some spots, but there’s no plan to add air-conditioning system wide. The district recently began a strategic planning process, but it’s a year away from system-wide recommendations.

Gym said it was “negligent to not have a clear facilities improvement plan that builds towards the future.”

Camden’s district — with 16 schools and two early childhood centers enrolling about 5,200 students total — has, like Philadelphia, a stock of old buildings, many of which don’t have air-conditioning.

It dismissed its students early, as did Franklin D. Roosevelt Middle School and Truman High School in Bristol Township, because of excessive heat and humidity.

Staff writer Melanie Burney contributed to this article.