South Orange - Maplewood Students Report High School is Cold
Some rooms at Columbia High School have little or no heat, say students
Jackets are not normally worn indoors at Columbia High School, but this week is different. Students report that classrooms are "freezing" and without heat. Some students have found their classes moved away from especially cold rooms, and have taken to social media to report classroom temperatures in the teens. (These temperatures are unverified.)
Concerned parents, regardless of the exact temperature, worry.
One parent wrote that she is "currently worrying that, in the middle of flu season, [her] kids are being exposed to unreasonably cold temperatures at CHS."
Suzanne Turner, speaking for the district, noted, "With the bitterly cold temperatures this week, a few heating issues have arisen at CHS. Our property services department has been working diligently to resolve issues as they arise, and administrators are traveling the building constantly to identify concerns and make alternate arrangements when necessary. No classes are being dismissed early, however some classes are being relocated to warmer locations in the building until appropriate temperatures are restored in their usual classrooms."
Temperatures are expected to reach the 50s next week.
Patch will continue to follow this story.
CJV
5:35 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Marcia, apparently this is a recurring problem, including an absurd distribution of heat within the building. Given our very high levels of per-pupil spending, is it too much to ask for some follow-up here as to what the District's problem is?
Marcia Worth
6:00 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Hello: I'm not aware of this as a recurring problem, inasmuch as I've covered CHS for four years and I don't recall this coming up before. Obviously that's just my experience. Please feel free to share any insights or info you have. Thanks.
CJV
7:03 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
An Art teacher posted on MOL that is has gone on forever, her class routinely having to move out of the room and only being able to meet in the library if she has a test to administer. Also, we're told the auditorium is insufferably hot during the winter.
CJV
7:03 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Marcia, if the Superintendent gives us third-world classrooms for our first-world taxes, then he needs to resign and we'll get someone in there who can get it done.