A/C installation in public schools could cost $40 million
Posted Nov 13, 2018 06:59:13 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Waterloo Region District School Board members are working on finding a solution that will bring relief to hundreds of teachers, students and parents around Waterloo Region.
WRDSB members are discussing a plan that involves updating heating and ventilation systems, which could cost upwards of $40 million.
WRDSB trustee, Cindy Watson says they will never get approved for a $40 million dollar budget to install air-conditioners in older schools, but there are alternatives.
“Portable air-conditioning machines can be set up in classrooms to provide temporary relief when the temperatures are really high. I worked out the numbers so that if the portable air conditioners were a certain price, it could cost $250,000.”
Watson says temperatures above 21°C can affect students' overall academic performance.
“From a research perspective, we know that students don't perform well, they don't write tests well when the temperatures are that high.”
Watson says classrooms in a third of all elementary schools, and half of all secondary schools in Waterloo Region are not currently air-conditioned.
She says the school board is working on a solution and they will reveal more research and findings in March 2019.
