San Bernardino School Officials, Students Head Home Early After Air Conditioning Goes Out
SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA.com) — The air conditioning was out and the fans were on at the San Bernardino Unified School District headquarters Tuesday amid sweltering heat.
An employee told CBS2 that it was 90 degrees on the second floor of the building.
"Stifling hot…the a/c has not worked since last week. We don't have the option of opening windows to get a cross breeze going," school district employee Linda Bardere said.
The employees there, many of whom call the shots in the school district, decided to end the day early at noon.
Two schools in the district, Cajon High School and Arrowhead Elementary, struggled to keep their cool.
"We've had repairmen at both sites," Bardere said.
Students said they were willowing in the classrooms and the heat made it hard to concentrate.
Cajon High School normally lets out at 2:35 p.m. but officials decided the heat was ample excuse to release students at noon.
"It is really difficult because you're focusing on heat when you should be focused on learning," one student said at Cajon H.S.
There was no air conditioning at Arrowhead Elementary School.
"It comes on for a while and then cuts off," one student said.
Teachers tried to cool kids down by distributing bottles of cold water.
Students at Arrowhead were released at 1 p.m., two-and-a-half hours early.
By the end of the day air conditioning was back up at the elementary school, in time to keep children Wednesday focused on learning and not on the heat.
