School closed early today!

[Marshmallow Man]

Quote:
Don't your schools have A/C.

Yes, of course they do

Well, Think of what it would be like to sit in a school south of the Mason Dixon line without A/C. I know your temps get close to 100 on a regular basis and the humidity is usually in the 90% range. Teachers would be falling over for sure. I lived in Tx and my primary goal in life when I lived there was to stay out of the heat. I grew up in Colorado and nobody had A/C. I went to New Orleans one year on vacation and my hands became swollen to twice their normal size from the heat. I can understand why people that consider temps over 80 or 85 to bw high, would close their schools for mid 90's when they don't have A/C.

 

[chicknerd]

Quote:
Yep yep. High school kids who have just learned drive always congregate in one spot: the high school parking lot. Traffic was terrible anyway, but that was a booger to deal with on an icy day I tell you! My high school always had issues with canceling when it's icy. They preferred to have everyone get there, stay for two hours, then send them home in their big ole trucks on icy roads they don't know how to drive. I was smart. I got to school an hour early and left 20 minutes late. Not to mention my first car (a massive SUV) had 4 wheel drive so I was relatively safe just coasting all the way home. But the rest of the students...

On an icy road it isn't the size of the car but the brain power of the driver. No element of an SUV is going to protect you during ice or on icy conditions. The tires cannot grip. I would say it was the intelligence of the driver that got you home.

Around here (northern NE again) we do cancel for ice, if the trucks cant keep up with it. We did have a massive ice storm about 18 months ago that caused massive outages. The kids were sent home as the ice progressed. The next day was sunny but no school as there was no power. For many places it was a week before school could return.

But yes, high heat and poor air in an area that many people and most public buildings do NOT have AC can cause school closings.

 

[Cat Water]

Quote:
Yes, of course they do

Well, Think of what it would be like to sit in a school south of the Mason Dixon line without A/C. I know your temps get close to 100 on a regular basis and the humidity is usually in the 90% range. Teachers would be falling over for sure. I lived in Tx and my primary goal in life when I lived there was to stay out of the heat. I grew up in Colorado and nobody had A/C. I went to New Orleans one year on vacation and my hands became swollen to twice their normal size from the heat. I can understand why people that consider temps over 80 or 85 to bw high, would close their schools for mid 90's when they don't have A/C.

Our schools are built to retain heat in the winter, not keep us cool in the summer because it never gets this hot around here. You could see kids sweating through their shirts. I was sweating like a donkey in a sauna just sitting still. Somebody even said, "I think I ran out of sweat. I'm just really sticky now..."

They even made us have inside recess.

 

[PineappleMama]

Precisely... down here I think we plan more for heat... our A/C is a HUGE concern... where as protecting from cold is not as much a concern... one because it doesn't get That Cold... we might see teens... and two even on years where we do it doesn't last long before it's back up above freezing. I doubt that up yonder they bother with signs, papers, news reports/etc of a coming freeze... up there it's just known.. DUH it's gonna freeze... but down here there's a big hullabaloo when a freeze is coming because it's not common.

One reason (that and my brownish black instead of green thumb) that I can't grow tulips for squat... we just don't get a decent freeze. I'd have to dig the boogers up and stick them in the freezer for two weeks, then rebury... and do all that under HC thanks to the stinkin' tree rats... overall, not worth the trouble. Boy I do ramble early in the morning huh?

 

[chixie]

r school doesnt even close for snow. like other schools in our area. they may delay school for a couple of hours but they make our kids go. they rarely close for anything.

 

[PineappleMama]

Are you SURE you aren't in Arlington?

I swear they don't close for anything... even the principals hate that... because they don't know whether they need to drive in or not... bad enough for the people who are in the district, within 2 miles of the school... but for staff that live further away, even in other towns and thus have to leave by 7 in Good Weather... it can be a bit rough having to wait until at least that before knowing if you have to drive and in bad (time consuming) conditions.

 

[chicknerd]

This is the warning for Maine and NH today, notice it specifically mentions schools. It subsequently goes on to ask everyone to check on elderly neighbors, etc. who may not have AC.

VERY HOT TEMPERATURES AND MODERATE TO HIGH HUMIDITY LEVELS WILL COMBINE TO BRING UNCOMFORTABLE AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS HEAT TO THE REGION AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON. THIS WILL BE THE FIFTH CONSECUTIVE DAY OF 90 DEGREE HEAT IN MANY AREAS INCLUDING COASTAL LOCATIONS TODAY. TEMPERATURES IN THE MID TO UPPER 90S ARE POSSIBLE FURTHER INLAND WHERE AN AFTERNOON SEA BREEZE WILL NOT BRING RELIEF. WITH MANY BUILDINGS AND SCHOOLS NOT HAVING AIR CONDITIONING... THIS LONG DURATION HEAT WAVE WILL ALLOW BUILDINGS TO GET VERY UNCOMFORTABLE AND DANGEROUS FOR THOSE SUSCEPTIBLE TO EXCESSIVE HEAT. RESIDENTS SHOULD TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO AVOID HEAT RELATED ILLNESSES.

 

[wildeflowers]

My son did not go to school today. He got dressed and went to school, and got nauseous again. It's supposed to be in the mid 90s again, plus he's already susceptible because he got sick yesterday. I told him if he came home, he had to lay down, no tv and he said ok, so he must not be feeling well, lol. The teacher called last night to check on him. Apparently he got really sick about 20 minutes before dismissal, although he had been complaining about a headache for much longer. I hope they pay closer attention to the other kids today because I'd hate to have all of them with heat stroke!

It's true that our schools are meant to RETAIN heat, and there is no AC. So when it's 96 outside, it's approximately 90 degrees upstairs in the classrooms. I can not imagine trying to concentrate or do anything in that oven! I don't know how the teacher is surviving, much less the kids. They should really call a half day.

 

[Cat Water]

They didn't close again today, but my friend went home with heat exhaustion. She had a headache then started throwing up. Our teacher was nice and let us work in the library for the afternoon. It was about 20 degrees cooler in there.

He said, "We can work in the library today. We will NOT make it if we stay in here. We will all die."

Yeah.

But there was no half day or delay.

 

[FluffyColor]

Quote:
I wish school would close early for heat.