Many schools in Oregon are still not equipped for extreme temperatures

Portland Public Schools and other districts in the subway region published students from the classes early and canceled on Monday after school after the school program due to extreme heat and further high temperatures. This happened, although the districts have taken steps to lower building temperatures, such as: B. overnight ventilation and portable fans.

The poor infrastructure of schools for high summer heat and terrifying winter lows have also been a central topic in many union negotiations and strikes in the state in many union negotiations and strikes, especially if climate change increases these intensive conditions.

So why are so many schools in Oregon not equipped for extreme temperatures? And why is it important that you do it?

For the beginning, the average K-12 school building in Oregon is 56 years old, explained Michael Elliott, director of school institutions for the Oregon Ministry of Education. This is the average of the secondary school buildings that do not contain the portable buildings that use many districts.

“When these facilities were designed and designed,” said Elliott in a statement, “extreme weather was probably not a factor.”

The ODE office for school institutions helps the school districts to manage this in the entire state. For example, it offers free, districts for the condition and technical support as well as reviews for postponed maintenance, seismic risks and environmental hazards.

The office also manages the Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching Program, which offers the districts that match the districts if they adopt a local general commitment bond.

The aim of the program is to encourage communities to invest in their local schools, since school districts have the last word about the use of their means. And the breakdown of the way these decisions and improvements are made is the focus of why so many schools in Oregon are simply not equipped for extreme temperatures.

A case study: Gervais School District

A year ago, after eight failed attempts, Gervais passed his first school building in more than 30 years. It was important that this bond was particularly adopted because the district should not survive without it.

In the end, the voters in the Small Willamette Valley Town approved a capital building bond of $ 28 million, which was delivered with an additional $ 6 million from the state program for the capital improvement of the state-and avoid the probable closure of the approximately 1,250 students.

“To be honest, if we have adjusted every project we did, it was over 100 million US dollars,” Superintendent Dandy Stevens from Gervais told Opb.

“And so in the past three years,” she said, “we have really done this on the basics of security, security and the appropriate learning environments, and so we can find the price of US dollars.”

In the past 12 months, the district has worked on the development and planning phases to improve the existing structures. As Stevens put it, it is much more difficult to convert old, existing buildings than just start again. But that's all you can do now.

“We have to be very targeted to find out: How do we create HLK systems in existing buildings that are not set up for modern expectations of air flow and air quality?” she said. “How will we ensure that interiors receive the type of ventilation and heating and cooling that you need while working asbestos and lead -based products?”

This work is therefore very time -consuming and expensive.

Districts must create a favorable learning and work environment for employees and students. You have to deal with all the dangerous materials that were okay when the buildings were built for the first time.

In addition, according to Stevens, “the construction costs are going through the roof at the moment because they have uncertainties in relation to tariffs and product availability. Some districts are also not sure whether they are promised due to the expected cuts of the Trump government as by the Federal Government.

The high school from Gervais was opened in 1965 without heating or cooling system. The district has made small upgrades when Covid hit, said Stevens, but a large part of the building was not interpreted with the most important questions of the most important temperatures, e.g. For example: How does natural sunlight heat the building in different areas? Do you have the right windows to maximize energy efficiency?

“We had a degree in (The High School Gymnasium) on Friday evening. In this area it was well over 100 degrees,” she said this week. “There is no way to get an outdoor ventilation there. You cannot open a door and have a fan on one side. It is inside the building, so that the gyms are not built these days.”

The primary school of Gervais was built in 1934. In the late 50s there was an addition and then a separate building in the early 90s, which was completely cooled and heated – the cafeteria and high school are located there. This room does not need upgrades.

“Some people can know the day after the election (last May) or not, the cauldron of the primary school is basically blown up,” said Stevens. “So we had to replace the heating system for primary school, but of course we didn't have time to do the HLK system.

“In the next nine months, it will be full of bores when it comes to enabling all HLK systems in the individual rooms, and also finding out how it ventilates and cools down a building that has several additions that has several additions to it.”

And while a private company may decide to clear a building and shift its employees for the construction life, this is not really an option for public schools.

“Our customers – our students – will appear at the end of August and will be here every day to June,” said Stevens. “And so it is not as if we can close the shop and say:” Hey, we will keep school in another building for nine months while trying to do these projects. “”

That's why timing is so important, she explained. Districts must maximize the construction during the time when children are not there. And if you have to continue when the school is at the meeting, you have to do this in the slightest disruptive way.

“Like everyone who needs a room that is pleasantly comfortable,” she said, “you can't have many construction noises around you while trying to learn how to read.”

Studies show that the ability of the students to learn decreases with increasing temperatures. If classrooms are too hot or too cold, this also affects the ability of the staff to effectively teach and work.

Stevens compared the need to improve school buildings with car safety problems. When cars were invented for the first time, they did not close the number of security features they had today. She said the same applies to these buildings – it is not to blame for someone, but they have to catch up.

“We now have a better understanding of the importance of air quality for our health,” she said, “for the health of everyone, not just in a classroom.”

Since districts and cooling systems, seismic upgrades, roof stability and other academic and security concerns are considering, Stevens knows that money is a great obstacle. Gervais was lucky enough to say goodbye in this sense – not every district in recent years has been successful in this undertaking – and yet they will still not be able to repair everything.

“Budgets are for everyone – for our families, for school districts,” said Stevens. “There is just enough money to go for all the things that are needed and searched for.”

Nevertheless, she said that she was trying to be good public money managers and work with the community to create basic work environments that achieve the best results.

“We are working on that here.”