Parents Voice Concern Over Lack Of Air Conditioning In Schools
LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — Parents are voicing concern over an apparent lack of air condition in their children's classrooms, as Southern California's record heat wave continues.
Students, too, told CBS2's Cristy Fajardo that they spent the majority of the day dealing with the extreme heat during school hours.
Photos from schools around Long Beach showed thermometers, displaying temperatures of 101 degrees in one classroom at 2:10 p.m. Tuesday.
The Teachers Association, the union representing the faculty of the Long Beach Unified School District, says it has received numerous health-related complaints.
"Children are experiencing nausea, bloody noses, (headaches)," Teachers Association of Long Beach's Virginia Torres said.
A spokesperson for the district did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.
The union, meanwhile, says the problem stems from the fact that many of the district's schools were built before air conditioning became commonplace. The rewiring of the buildings to include proper air conditioning is expensive.
The district passed a bond measure to upgrade schools, however.
The union says it is working with the district to offer temporary solutions, including the watering down of blacktops, bringing in swamp coolers.
The ultimate goal, meanwhile, is for every classroom to have air conditioning.
