Yes, it is very hot; and temperatures have been rising in our classrooms. I want you to know that HSTA is working to give our members and our students better teaching and learning environments; and cooling our classrooms is an important element. The heat impacts learning by taking away the opportunity for students to make every day in school count. This is where the power of a union can make a difference. We are meeting with the Department of Education and State Legislators to gather a workgroup of key stakeholders to address this important issue.
Work Toward Solutions Other Than Chasing the $1.7 billion Price Tag
The Department of Education estimates it will cost $1.7 billion to air condition our classrooms. That’s over $100,000 for one classroom. The Legislature currently is allocating just a limited amount of funding to education each year, and this means the state averages air conditioning just one school every other year. If we don’t bring down the cost of air conditioning, then our schools will still be suffering through this problem into the next century.
Our Suggestion: We need to throw out the $1.7 billion dollar plan, because it is never going to happen. We want to bring together stakeholders and rethink the problem and bring down the cost so we actually address the issue of hot classrooms.
1. Survey. We need to think about the problem not as a school problem, but a classroom problem. Even in a school without air conditioning there are some classrooms that do have air conditioning. In 2007, the Honolulu Advertiser stated that there were 7000 public school classrooms without AC. The DOE is working on a survey this month trying to assess how many classrooms have air conditioning. Note that even if they find 7000 classrooms at $100,000, the price tag would be $700 million, not $1.7 billion.
2. Alternatives and Solutions. Next we need to bring down the cost per room. The biggest expense in putting air conditioning in our classrooms is electrical. Hawaii’s public classrooms are on average over 65 years old, and the electrical infrastructure can’t handle the load of air conditioning. In order to put in air conditioning, the DOE needs to upgrade the electrical system and insulate the rooms to prevent higher electrical costs. Recently Pohakea Elementary put in air conditioning and that cost was $110,000 per room.
- In order to solve this problem, HSTA is suggesting the DOE use a solar air conditioning instead. The DOE is already experimenting with an on-the-grid air conditioning system at Waianae High. http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/29765380/pv-ac-cools-waianae-classroom
- We are also asking the DOE to experiment with an off-the- grid air conditioning system, that doesn’t require electrical upgrades or future costs. http://www.hawaiibusiness.com/off-the-grid-air-conditioning/. These systems can bring down the cost to $20,000 or less per room. While they may not work for every classroom, they could bring down the costs for an entire school. At $20,000 per class for 7000 classrooms we can bring down the cost from $1.7 billion to $140 million. This price becomes more manageable to ask the Legislature to fund. Even at $25 million a year, we could solve this problem in less than 6 years.
3. What can you do now to solve the problem? There are some schools that have the electrical system that can support air conditioning now. Teachers, parents, and community members can donate air conditioning for these classrooms, if your principal approves. Here's how
http://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/ConnectWithUs/Organization/SchoolFacilities/Pages/AC-Donation.aspx
4. In the meantime, we are also looking at pursuing the option of “heat days” where school would be cancelled with the heat and humidity create a dangerous and unhealthy teaching and learning environment.
We will keep you updated about the results of our meetings with decision-makers and community leaders as we work toward solutions to enhance teaching and learning conditions in our public schools.
You are HSTA. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and questions. Please email info@hsta.org.
Sincerely,
Corey Rosenlee
President
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