SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Students in Rancho Bernardo will be getting out of school early Friday because of ongoing A/C problems. Rancho Bernardo High School and Bernardo Heights Middle School have been dealing with no A/C this week during this stretch of hot and humid weather.
It’s been a rough first week for students and school faculty at both schools because of the unreliable A/C system that’s over 30 years old. Parents sent CBS 8 pictures showing a thermostat reading 85 degrees outside and 87 degrees inside.
“It’s really frustrating. The kids have been in classrooms that are over 85 degrees. We had ‘Back to School Night’ last night and the teachers are miserable,” said Amber Stefanick, who has a sixth-grader and a tenth-grader at each school. “It’s really frustrating when I pick my kids up and they’re talking about how they’re sweating or they’re sitting outside on the hard concrete trying to do math because it’s cooler outside than it is in the classrooms.”
Poway Unified School District sent out an email with short-term solutions that includes a minimum day Friday. The district said they could call for more minimum days, depending on the heat.
"Dear Bernardo Heights Middle School Staff and Families,
Thank you for your patience and resilience during an extremely challenging first week of school due to the lack of air conditioning in the classrooms and offices at BHMS. I want you to know that I have heard your frustrations and concerns and please know this has been a top priority for District leadership to address. We understand these are not ideal conditions for teaching and learning for our students and staff. While you have received regular updates from your Principal, I also wanted to assure you that staff and technicians have been working day and night over the past week to try to resolve the problem, but with limited success. During my visits, it was clear that our students and staff were trying to make the best of things with fans on in the classroom and moving outside in the shade, but again, this is not sustainable, nor the experience we want for our schools, staff, or students.
Unfortunately, there is no quick fix, and the repairs and replacement parts are taking longer than we'd like. As you're aware, on some days, the AC is working again, other days it stops working when we need it most. To put it simply, the system serving BHMS and RBHS relies on the overnight creation of ice to generate cool air the following day. This method is inefficient to serve both schools and occasionally the system fails to make enough ice to last the day or fails to make any ice altogether. As such, here are some of the short-term solutions and long-terms solutions we are actively exploring:
- PUSD leadership is working with the County to apply for an emergency waiver for instructional minutes to consider some minimum days on the hottest days when the AC isn't working. The first minimum day is scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, August 26... you will receive a separate message from your school with more details.
- We are also working to rent a 600-ton chiller and secure more shade tents.
- We are also awaiting an estimate from an outside company to shut down the existing system and repair the compressor and drive line of the existing system.
The BHMS and RBHS HVAC system is a 32-year-old outdated and unreliable system and breakdowns are occurring more frequently. The long-term solution is to replace the entire HVAC system, which would cost at least $10 million. We attempted to raise money for this and other aging systems in PUSD back in 2020 via Measure P, a bond measure, but were unsuccessful. In addition to the question of how to secure this funding without a bond measure, a system replacement would also involve major construction at our school sites, which would need to occur without students or staff present. Therefore, while this solution is being explored for the long term, we are focusing more on realistic short-term solutions that will hopefully bring some relief to our staff and students in the near future.
I hope to share more positive updates with you soon. If you have any additional ideas and solutions we should explore, please share them with us.
In partnership, Superintendent Marian Kim Phelps"
WATCH RELATED: Sweltering conditions for students with no A/C in Rancho Bernardo classrooms (Aug 24, 2022)
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