Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.
Not only is it hot outside Waterloo-Oxford County High School, but students say it’s hot inside as well.
The air conditioning system did not work in all areas of the school in Eden.
“It’s really bad, it’s really unfortunate because we get really hot, we just get hot all the time all week,” said 10th grader Hudson Wachter.
Students said the heat was affecting their learning.
“Obviously it’s brutal. You’ll sit in math class and try to write a term paper or an exam and you just can’t even focus because you’re wiping sweat off your face,” said 10th grader Aidan Golden.
In a statement, Bill Lemon, acting associate superintendent of the Waterloo District School Board (WRDSB), told CTV they are aware of the issue.
“Functionality issues have been reported with certain air conditioning units in the building, given the extreme heat conditions. Facilities services staff tell us all units are working today,” Lemon said.
The board said all of their elementary and middle schools have some form of mechanical cooling, and about 75 percent of their total school spaces are air-conditioned. The board noted that it does not include areas that do not have air conditioning such as gyms, hallways, bathrooms, locker rooms and service spaces.
The WRDSB said it is adding more air conditioning to the schools, as needed and as the budget allows. Lemon said Waterloo-Oxford is among the schools that will be putting in more air conditioning units this summer.
During the heat wave, WRDSB officials said it was following public health guidance and implementing the board’s administrative procedure on extreme temperatures and outdoor activities during extreme temperatures.
The written guidance for dealing with heat and humidity ranges from actions such as closing curtains and windows on the sunny side of the school to encouraging drinking water and avoiding vigorous activity.
11th grader Landan Quackenbush said many students in his class passed physical education on Wednesday.
“Half the people in my class today said ‘I’m just going to skip class’ because we had to exercise in a gym that doesn’t have air conditioning,” he said.
Quackenbush stayed, but says he felt terrible by the time the class was over.
“I’m going home now because I’m quite sweaty.”
For the Waterloo Catholic District School Board, Senior Director of Communications, Lena Salaima said all of their learning spaces are air-conditioned.
Salaima pointed out that one elementary school did have a system that was being repaired this week, during which portable cooling units and fans were brought to the school.
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
source link https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/baden-high-school-students-can-t-even-focus-dealing-with-lack-of-air-conditioning-1.6933484
