BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Brevard County School Board’s latest issue impacted three schools Monday – causing some kids to miss school.
- Parents, teachers wonder why AC issues keep happening
- Teacher: 'We just lost an entire day'
- School board says AC repair decisions are up to superintendent
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Amid heat indexes in the triple digits, air conditioning went out at three schools: Meadowlane Primary Elementary School, Meadowlane Intermediate, and Central Middle School in West Melbourne.
Although the AC was up and running at those three schools by the end of Monday, parents and teachers are wondering with 34 AC technicians in the county, why these problems have been happening since the beginning of the school year.
Daniel Batcheldor’s 7-year-old daughter spent the day sweating at Meadowlane Primary Elementary School and says it’s the third time this year.
Parents like Daniel say maybe the schools policy of switching off the AC over the weekend and holidays are causing the issues, so even though they are trying to cut costs, it seems to making the situation worse.
“She was a little lethargic, and we had to give her a little bit of water, but she made it through,” Batcheldor said.
Central Middle School Teacher Loren Merrill says instead of teaching math, his students were counting the heat index, and it’s another day wasted unable to get their attention long enough to follow the curriculum.
“Children should not be in an environment where there is not AC taking away from instruction. We just lost an entire day,” Merrill said.
Temperatures reached the 90s and above at three schools at the same time because they share the same air conditioning chiller that failed.
School board member Andy Ziegler says there is no set budget for AC repairs because it’s considered essential. So they will find a way to repair it, but they will be talking to the superintendent to see what can be done.
Ziegler says to make any changes, it’s up to the superintendent because it’s an operational decision, not a policy decision.
Spectrum News 13 will be following this story closely to see what decisions, if any, the superintendent is planning on making in references to the policy of shutting the ACs off on weekends and holidays.