BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — It may be cold outside now, but schools are already preparing for rising temperatures after Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed off on the classroom heat bill.
It requires all districts to develop plans to help students and teachers stay cool during the summer months.
"I think it's a win for students," Niagara Falls City School District Superintendent Mark Laurrie said. “It’s indicative of the way climate is going in all areas, right? A greater bit of attention towards snow and cold. And I think, you know, it makes sense that when it’s too warm, no one can work well, especially young students."
In Niagara Falls, nine of the district’s 11 schools already have air conditioning, but two middle schools—Glaskill and LaSalle—do not.
Laurrie said that an $18 million project, which is 96% reimbursable, is underway to install air conditioning in those schools by the summer.
“It’s our hope that all 11 of our schools will have air conditioning and a functioning method, and we will not really need to concern ourselves too much with this issue,” Laurrie added.
Meanwhile, in Buffalo, air conditioning remains limited in many school buildings.
Jessica Bauer Walker, a Buffalo Public School parent and co-chair of the school's Parent and Student Community Health Worker Association, agreed with the governor’s move.
“I think that this is a good move by the governor to make sure that our children and our staff are safe in schools when that heat gets up there,” she said. "So oftentimes there'll be some spaces, like the main office will be we'll have AC but generally speaking, when it gets hot, our Buffalo schools, students and staff are hot."
A Buffalo Public Schools spokesperson responded to Hochul’s action by sharing the following:
The Buffalo Public Schools already has an established plan that ensures that students and staff are able to remain comfortable and safe during times of excessive heat. For instance, in addition to implementing four half days in July last school year, as stated, the district’s Procedures for Weather Related Emergency School Closings | 2024 - 2025 [core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com] :
When there is high heat projected, Buffalo Public Schools will take several steps to ensure the comfort and safety of students and staff in school buildings without air-conditioning.
These steps include:
• Bringing cooler air into the buildings at night.
• Deploying high-capacity fans in hallways.
• Providing bottled cooled water and water stations.
• Building Engineers and district staff will monitor room sensors to identify areas in particular need of attention.
If the projected heat index for any day exceeds 90 (according to National Weather Service Recommendation), or if in-room temperatures across the district become difficult to manage, the district will consider early release days or the relocation of classrooms when available.
"I think that there probably needs to be a more comprehensive plan, even dealing with, you know, some of the schools having water fountain shut up because there's lead or because there's filters that need to be replaced. So some of these issues don't have anything directly to do with the heat, but can exacerbate the problems when they happen," Bauer Walker said.
As districts across the state prepare for these changes, the bill takes effect next September.
