How hot is too hot for school?

[maddiel]

I live in Halifax, NS. School is scheduled to start tomorrow. We are having a stretch of unusually hot and humid weather - it's currently 33C (90F) with a humidex of 41C (100F) and it's suppertime. Tomorrow is supposed to be as hot or hotter and Friday (very) slightly cooler.

The school board has decided that schools will open as scheduled but "Parents and guardians are always advised to use discretion when sending their children to school." I doubt we have any schools that have air conditioning in our board and may of the schools are older.

My DD 17 goes to a large, fairly modern high school, so I think she'll be fine. On the other hand, my DD10's classroom, which is in the older section of her elementary school, is going to be _hot_ I really can't imagine that those kids are going to get much out of their first day.

Is there a standard for heat cancellations? This is not something we have a lot of experience with. Cancellations due to freezing fog, yes - heat, not so much!

(BTW - I think there is an increased resistance to canceling due to the heat because we are expecting to experience Earl on Saturday and in 2003 when Hurricane Juan hit, the schools were closed for a week. We're still a little paranoid,)

M.

 

[Hoodie]

We never had a heat cancellation. I remember some REALLY hot days.

 

[golfgal]

We have never had heat cancellations either and we have had plenty of 100 degree school days-no AC either. The teachers just run fans, etc. At least it is the start of the school year and they are pretty much just learning the ropes anyway-they don't do much the first day even without hot weather. We had an October a few years ago where it was over 90 for most of the month-THAT was a bad month. Cooler weather is on the way at least.

 

[ohiomom28]

I live in Halifax, NS. School is scheduled to start tomorrow. We are having a stretch of unusually hot and humid weather - it's currently 33C (90F) with a humidex of 41C (100F) and it's suppertime. Tomorrow is supposed to be as hot or hotter and Friday (very) slightly cooler.

The school board has decided that schools will open as scheduled but "Parents and guardians are always advised to use discretion when sending their children to school." I doubt we have any schools that have air conditioning in our board and may of the schools are older.

My DD 17 goes to a large, fairly modern high school, so I think she'll be fine. On the other hand, my DD10's classroom, which is in the older section of her elementary school, is going to be _hot_ I really can't imagine that those kids are going to get much out of their first day.

Is there a standard for heat cancellations? This is not something we have a lot of experience with. Cancellations due to freezing fog, yes - heat, not so much!

(BTW - I think there is an increased resistance to canceling due to the heat because we are expecting to experience Earl on Saturday and in 2003 when Hurricane Juan hit, the schools were closed for a week. We're still a little paranoid,)

M.

When I was little, I don't remember ever getting out early. Now this week, several area schools have let out 2 hours early.

 

[Kathi OD]

I live in Halifax, NS. School is scheduled to start tomorrow. We are having a stretch of unusually hot and humid weather - it's currently 33C (90F) with a humidex of 41C (100F) and it's suppertime. Tomorrow is supposed to be as hot or hotter and Friday (very) slightly cooler.

The school board has decided that schools will open as scheduled but "Parents and guardians are always advised to use discretion when sending their children to school." I doubt we have any schools that have air conditioning in our board and may of the schools are older.

My DD 17 goes to a large, fairly modern high school, so I think she'll be fine. On the other hand, my DD10's classroom, which is in the older section of her elementary school, is going to be _hot_ I really can't imagine that those kids are going to get much out of their first day.

Is there a standard for heat cancellations? This is not something we have a lot of experience with. Cancellations due to freezing fog, yes - heat, not so much!

(BTW - I think there is an increased resistance to canceling due to the heat because we are expecting to experience Earl on Saturday and in 2003 when Hurricane Juan hit, the schools were closed for a week. We're still a little paranoid,)

M.

I don't see any reason why school needs to be canceled, even with no air conditioning. I know I've taught many days in conditions just as you describe without any major problems to my students.

However, it takes some common sense. Keeping the lights off, not allowing the children overexert themselves and making sure the students have access to water and are well-hydrated are three things that I do in this kind of weather.

 

[Liberty Belle]

We never had a heat cancellation, but our schools have air conditioners.

OT - Does Halifax have a memorial for the Halifax Explosion? We've been wanting to visit the area and I'm just curious.

 

[HelenePA]

I've never hear of a school closing for heat.. its been 95 here all week. No A/C. My kids have survived.

 

[MiniGirl]

Our schools are air conditioned now, but they weren't when I was a kid. I grew up in South Louisiana and we started school in early to mid-August. It was hot, but we always managed. Just bring some water and maybe some frozen grapes to snack on.

 

[Pooh67_68]

I've never hear of a school closing for heat.. its been 95 here all week. No A/C. My kids have survived.

Hello my neighbor ^

Nope never had a heat cancellation here, but they did cancle once for fog when I was still in school. And of course for the snow/ice.

 

[Jeafl]

We don't cancel for excessive heat either. Today the thermometer in my room showed 92 degrees! The kids were sweaty, lethargic and constantly asking to get drinks. I had 4 fans going, let them get frequent drinks and greatly lowered my expectations for getting much done. We managed to survive...barely.

 

[mommasita]

We are having the same heat, plus a few degrees, as the OP. My FIL called me today to see if school was canceled. Definitely it is not too hot for school, but I am picking both kids up at the end of the day, instead of seeing them on the hot bus. I am home, so why not.

Neither schools has any A/C, or any fans. We are more prone to SNOW and ICE conditions, and even those cancellations are a real rarity here. It is hard to imagine perhaps in some cities, states, but we as not prepared for the extreme heat, as you are NOT prepared for snow.

It is only till Friday, and then surely fall will be quickly rolling in.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

In St. Louis they were letting some of the kids go home early.

I grew going to school with no AC. It was HOT.

If my youngest dd had to go and sit with no AC in 100 degrees I probably would keep her home as she would most likely pass out.

So unless your kid has a medical condition, then it will probably be OK.

 

[maddiel]

I realize I am a total heat wimp!

I didn't really expect they'd cancel school, but I was curious if there was a standard for when it would be canceled. We had four branches if the public library closed today because of the heat and humidity. I hope the staff bring fans in to the elementary school because there are only about a half dozen in the whole building, if that many.

Liberty Belle - The NS Museum of the Atlantic has a permanent exhibit about the Halifax Explosion and there is a Memorial Bell Tower overlooking the site of the explosion.

M.

 

[akcire]

In my 13 years of elementary & HS education, I never attended a school with AC. Sure it was hot, but we were all fine. It's not like we still didn't want to play at recess. (Usually above 95 we got a pass on gym class).

The only advise I can give you for your children is to dress them in longer shorts. Nothing was worse than spending a hot day with short shorts and having your legs stick to the school chairs. It didn't matter if they were the varnished wood or the resin chairs, when it is that hot you sweat.

My mom was shocked when I told her I wanted the longer shorts, since it was so hot; when I told her why she understood.

 

[minkydog]

I live in Halifax, NS. School is scheduled to start tomorrow. We are having a stretch of unusually hot and humid weather - it's currently 33C (90F) with a humidex of 41C (100F) and it's suppertime. Tomorrow is supposed to be as hot or hotter and Friday (very) slightly cooler.

The school board has decided that schools will open as scheduled but "Parents and guardians are always advised to use discretion when sending their children to school." I doubt we have any schools that have air conditioning in our board and many of the schools are older.

Here in the southern U.S. we are used to sending our kids to school in early August when the temps are still holding well into the 90s. However, most of those schools, if not all, are air conditioned today. I grew up in South Alabama, right on the Gulf Coast and it ws not very common for schools to be air conditioned back then. My school was the oldest in the county and no part of it was air conditioned. We still had to go to school, but back then we started after Labor Day(1st monday in Sept.) So the temps were starting to become more bearable. Also, those old schools were built with large windows, attic fans and good air flow. Today's schools are sealed up tight--my childrens' newer schools don't even have windows so if the power goes out it quickly becomes a dangerous situation (no lights, no air.)

So, I guess for me it would depend entirely on how the school was constructed, whether they could cool it adequately with fans. 90 degrees wouldn't be a deal breaker for most people, unless they're stuck inside a windowless room for 7 hours straight.

 

[pixiewings71]

Well, it was 115 one day last week when I picked DD up from school, that was after she ran Cross Country and after she had band practice so it was about 7 pm when it was 115. The following day it was 109 when I picked her up, no cross country or band that day so it was around 3:30 when I got her. The following day it was just under 100.....you see where I'm going here right? lol Our schools are in during hot weather, some classes have a/c some don't. Some teachers don't like to use it, some just use fans. DD14 is in HS, she has an outdoor campus so she walks in the heat from class to class. DD10 is in elementary, she has an outdoor campus as well but of course she doesn't have to switch classes much so she's usually OK and on really hot days like that they don't do recess, recess is in their class. We have never had a cancellation due to heat.

BTW today it's about 100 out there, DD14 is still at school, she has cross country tonight.

 

[MM27]

I don't know if we have an official cutoff, but my school has had several early release days due to excessive heat in past years. I'm in NJ. My school is old and my classroom is on the top floor. I went in Monday and Tuesday to work on my classroom and the heat was horrible. I have 3 fans going, but it just pushes the hot air around. Today was even worse, but we don't have kids until Tuesday, so nobody really cares It was literally cooler standing outside the past three days than it has been in my classroom.

 

[poohs_hunny]

We don't cancel for excessive heat either. Today the thermometer in my room showed 92 degrees! The kids were sweaty, lethargic and constantly asking to get drinks. I had 4 fans going, let them get frequent drinks and greatly lowered my expectations for getting much done. We managed to survive...barely.

I've got you beat - mine was 96 yesterday and 95 today by the end of the school day. Tomorrow will be more of the same, and then Friday we'll feel the effects of Earl.

 

[Angelhalo]

When I was growing up in South Florida, 110 meant no school.

 

[mrodgers]

It's amazing I survived school. We never had school canceled or delayed or let out early because of temperature. I was really surprised when we had no snow and my daughter's school was delayed because it was below 10 F outside. I never paid attention to school delays on the news in the morning until she started going and I had no idea why all the schools were delayed until later when I talked to my wife and she told me why.