Heat wave shines light on A/C problems in Waterloo Region schools

The final countdown is on until school is out for summer but it’s been a rough last week for many students and staff, sweltering in the historic heat wave that gripped southern Ontario.

Teachers’ unions are calling out the province for a lack of air conditioning, while the Ford government says it’s up to school boards to keep classrooms cool.

“I think the government needs to step up here,” said Jeff Pelich, President of the Waterloo Region chapter of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario. “I think there needs to be some further investments to take a look at how we can get better A/C in some of these schools.”

Pelich was on The Mike Farwell Show on Wednesday and said school boards are dealing with funding constraints which prevent them from fully air conditioning local schools.

“We still don’t have A/C in a lot of places within our school board,” Pelich said.

He said even if some schools are built with A/C in mind, money is still needed for maintenance and back-up systems.

“Because [if] the school wasn’t built for windows to be open all the time and a cross-breeze to be going through, and really they’ve been relying on the HVAC system… when that goes down, what do we do?”

Pelich said teachers are being as creative as possible to try to beat the heat, but noted there are regulations and restrictions in place that can prevent them from moving class outside.

“People are running around closing blinds, opening blinds, opening windows, closing windows depending on where the sun is landing,” said Pelich. “You’ll see classrooms with multiple fans trying to keep the air circulating, and sometimes we are just stuck in the classroom because there is not enough shade on the schoolyard.”

He also pointed to school board budget constraints for why some spaces that have A/C have seemingly gotten hotter.

“One of the places they’re looking at saving money is through air conditioning, so the temperatures of schools have been going up because they’ve been increasing the temperature to decrease the amount spent, which makes sense but creates a challenge as the rooms are quite hot even in air conditioned buildings.”

However, the Waterloo Region District School Board refuted that.

“We want to clarify that there has been no recent increase in air conditioning temperature thresholds in WRDSB schools. WRDSB cooling systems continue to operate as designed and use a mechanical set cooling point, in alignment with provincial energy standards,” said WRDSB Director of Education, Scott Miller. “It is important to note that these settings are not a result of budget constraints, but are established operational parameters designed to ensure the safe and sustainable use of our Building Automation Systems (BAS), while complying with energy regulations.”

Miller added, “While not all WRDSB schools are fully air conditioned, we are taking every measure to manage indoor temperatures and minimize the impact of heat. These include maximizing ventilation, providing staff with guidance to protect student well-being, and encouraging hydration and heat illness prevention strategies.”

570 NewsRadio received a statement from Emma Testani, the press secretary for Education Minister Paul Calandra.

Testani said the province provides more than $1.4 billion annually to Ontario school boards to help them renew and improve schools, including air conditioning.

“School boards are required to have protocols in place as to how they deal with heat in schools and are responsible for ensuring that each individual school follows all appropriate provincial and municipal health and safety requirements.”

According to Testani, an additional $30 billion will be invested by the province over the next decade to further support school construction, renewal and improvements.