Friday, September 01, 2000
Summer heat late, but it had to come
Schools take extra precautions
By Marie McCain
The Cincinnati Enquirer
No, the Tristate is not suffering a Texas-style heat wave.
Nevertheless, educators in some Tristate schools Thursday found themselves taking extra precautions because of outside heat that felt like 100 degrees and elevated temperatures inside buildings.
“Our classrooms bear the brunt of the heat,” said Jack Kennevan, principal of the all-male Covington Catholic High School. Students inside the 46-year-old building in Park Hills, Ky., were dismissed at 1:45 p.m. Thursday, about 50 minutes earlier than normal.
Across the street at the all-female Notre Dame Academy, administrators urged stu dents to drink more water and encouraged them to carry water bottles to class.
“My daughter's classes are up on the third floor,” said Notre Dame development director Barbara Heil. “Every day she comes home drenched ... the girls are calling the boys wimps because they got to go home early.”
More than 150 counties in Texas, more than half of that state, have been declared agricultural disaster areas because of sustained temperatures in the 100s. Thursday was the state's 60th day without rain.
In Hamilton County, health officials said there were no complaints filed due to heat-related problems in the schools.
Still, Hamilton County Health Commissioner Terry Ingram recommended that students refrain from drinking caffeinated beverages and increase their water consumption.
Caffeine is a diuretic, he said, adding that “students should also wear loose-fitting, light-colored clothing” as a way of beating classroom heat.
At 2 p.m. Thursday, temperatures topped off at 89, but according to AccuWeather, humidity made it feel like 100.
Today temperatures are predicted to reach 87, while Saturday is expected to be steamy with a high in the mid-80s that could feel like the 90s.
Sunday, temperatures could reach 84, while Labor Day is expected to be warm and humid with thunderstorms a possibility.
Only four of the 75 schools — Chase, Roselawn-Condon, Douglass, and Woodford Paideia — within the Cincinnati Public School district have air-conditioning throughout their buildings. A fifth, Crest Hills Year-Round School, has air-conditioning in a majority of its building, officials said.
But many of the schools have air-conditioning in some of their rooms. “The district found it more cost-effective to do individual rooms such as the library, the cafeteria or the main office,” said Chris Wolff, a district spokeswoman.
Teachers are also supplied with fans in their classrooms and can take precautions to combat the heat by turning off overhead lights, increasing student water fountain breaks and limiting recess time, she said.
Weather is a significant concern for Mr. Kennevan. Many of his weeks during the later part of the summer begin with in-depth study of weather forecasts.
“Anytime there will be high humidity with highs in the 80s or in the low 90s, I start thinking about instilling a schedule C,” he said.
Schedule C is a weather-related format, where students are dismissed early. “If the situation is warranted ... and the temperature is unbearable, I can even activate a telephone tree to let parents know ahead of time,” he said.
“If conditions get unbearable ... we have to use common sense.”
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