Bay Area schools with no or limited air conditioning grapple with heat wave

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (KGO) -- Some schools in the Bay Area are grappling with the heat wave because they have limited or no air conditioning.

No question about it. It's hot across the Bay Area.

"It's really hot. Yesterday (Wednesday), we clocked maybe 100 degrees, maybe 106 degrees here in San Rafael," said parent Lori Butler.

At San Rafael city schools, some classrooms have A/C and some don't.

Marcella De Santis's 5-year-old son goes to Sun Valley Elementary.

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"When I pick him up, he's all sweaty and hot," said De Santis.

His kindergarten classroom is cool though, thanks to air conditioning.

"It's not the coolest. But it's not super hot," said De Santis.

But other classrooms are even warmer.

According to the superintendent of San Rafael city schools, only 9 of the district's 12 elementary schools have full A/C.

Sun Valley Elementary and San Pedro Elementary have partial A/C.

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Glenwood Elementary, one of the older schools, does not have any A/C at all.

"Glenwood is one of our older facilities that wasn't built with air conditioning. It is part of our multi-year phased approach for our bond program to have it fully equipped with air conditioning," explained Superintendent Carmen Ghysels.

In a written statement, Superintendent Ghysels explained:

"The HVAC projects for the three schools will start when school gets out in the summer of 2025, and we anticipate Sun Valley and San Pedro will be complete by the end of summer 2025. We anticipate Glenwood will be complete by the end of summer 2026."

The superintendent says they are bringing in fans, reminding everyone to drink a lot of water, and for classrooms without air conditioning, schools are using the gym or multipurpose room for classes or recess.

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Schools having limited or no air conditioning are a big concern in California. UC Berkeley and Stanford University researchers wrote in a report last year:

"Between 15 and 20% of California's TK-12 public schools... have no functioning mechanical HVAC systems at all..."

As many as another 10% of schools need major repair or they need to replace their systems to function adequately.

On Thursday on ABC7 News at 3 p.m., Dr. Sara Hinkley of UC Berkeley's Center for Cities and Schools told us students struggle more at schools without air conditioning: "As temperatures rise, students are less likely to pay attention. It's harder for them to retain information, we know that we are seeing even places in California where schools have to send children home early in extreme heat. That obviously jeopardizes learning for students and we continue to have more and more research that shows hot classrooms mean students get less out of the school day."

At San Pedro Elementary and other schools, staff say they keep a close eye on the students, limit outdoor activity in the heat, and they make sure everyone stays hydrated.

According to Cal Matters, in the Oakland Unified School District, about 2,000 classrooms in 77 schools have no air conditioners.

Equipping those schools with air conditioning would be an expensive and complicated task that would cost at least $400 million, said Preston Thomas, Oakland Unified School District's Chief Systems and Services Officer.