With the hot and humid weather hanging around for another day, steps are being taken to help students at London area schools that don't have air conditioning.
Of the 159 schools within the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB), 32 are not equipped with the cooling units. In light of that and with Environment Canada calling for a daytime high Wednesday of 32 C that will feel like 44 C with the humidity, the school board is enacting a variety of cooling strategies. Those include the use of fans, reducing physical activity, moving students to cooler spaces in the school, and taking additional water breaks.
TVDSB Superintendent for Student Achievement Purveen Skinner hopes these measures will help to calm parents' heat related concerns.
"If they're uncomfortable themselves with sending their children to school they are certainly most welcome to keep them at home," said Skinner. "But we would always want to make sure that they are aware of our cooling strategies and know we will be doing everything possible to keep our students and our staff comfortable because their safety is our priority."
Teachers at the non air-conditioned schools will also adjust their lesson plans to help keep students on task during the scorching heat.
"Thinking about their day, I think teachers plan to do activities that require more intense focusing in the morning and things that might require a little bit more movement where they don't have to focus as intensely in the middle of the day or the end of the day," said Skinner. "We really rely on our staff to really think about their planning."
Parents are being asked to encourage their children to dress in cool, light clothing, bring plenty of water and hydration snacks to school, and notify a teacher if they aren't feeling well.
While there is no set timeline for all schools in the Thames Valley board to be equipped with A/C, recent renovations at McGregor and Davenport public schools in Aylmer saw them get air-conditioning. Tweedsmuir public school in London is next in line for improvements to the HVAC system, which includes the addition of air-conditioning.
At the London District Catholic School Board, 13 of their 53 buildings only have partial or localized air-conditioning.
"We appreciate that the hot weather presents a challenge for both students and staff. Those schools without air conditioning have fans that operate during the day and the air exchange units bring in cool air at night," said Jacquie Davison, superintendent of business at the Catholic board.
Relief from the heat will come Wednesday night when a cold front is expected to move into the region.