Air Conditioning Broken at Two 308 Elementary Schools, Issue Addressed By Superintendent

The temperatures the past day have not been what many of us would call “pleasant.”

And first in line to say so would be students and staff at Fox Chase Elementary and The Wheatlands Elementary.

The two schools have not had air conditioning since the start of the school year, and with temperatures having hit in the mid-90’s Monday and planned to hit that on Tuesday, it hasn’t been comfortable.

Superintendent Dr. Matthew Wendt addressed the issue at the Monday night board meeting.

“The single biggest issue [this school year] has been warmer classrooms at Fox Chase and The Wheatlands,” said Wendt.

He said that the air conditioning units are very complex and that no matter the manpower they cannot “be fixed in a short amount of time.”

Mobile air conditioning units have been installed in some areas of the schools, but not all. Wendt said he visited the school today and some rooms were reading 88 degrees.

But relief may be in sight as soon as Tuesday. “We’re planning to have some form of cooler air tomorrow,” said Wendt. “We can’t guarantee that 72/74 degrees, but by Wednesday we should hopefully be up and rolling.”

Fox Chase parent Wayne Harshberger addressed the board Monday evening and said although he was glad the situation is being fixed, he found it “disturbing” to have his children going to physical education classes and doing physical activity and then having to go back to a hot classroom.

“As a parent, I think they’re staying home tomorrow,” he said.

The air conditioning units have a 12-year life cycle and this is their thirteenth year.

“I’m glad our facility committee has started… We have some long-term maintenance to look at,” said Wendt.

Do you have a child at Fox Chase of the Wheatlands? Is your child going to school Tuesday?