Fifteen water bottles in the teachers’ lounge freezer provide one teacher’s ammunition against hot days that bake classrooms at East High School.
Students and teachers dress for duress. They wear shorts, sandals and sleeveless shirts. Competition is fierce for the few seats that catch a breeze from open classroom windows.
“It’s the same thing every year: The building is hot, and I guess we have to learn to live with it,” said East’s assistant principal, Wes Ashley.
“We drink a lot of water, and we sit and suffer.”
Of the 124 DPS non-charter schools, only 46 have air conditioning. Though today’s cooler weather gives students a break, parents, students and teachers complain when August temperatures hover in the 80s and 90s.
“Some of the classrooms are hot, and the auditorium is flat- out miserable,” said Stacey Eshelman, whose daughter attends Morey Middle School.
Colorado state law mandates a 180-day school year, including teacher in-service days, training days and parent-teacher conference days. District administrators throughout the state calculate the first day of school according to the beginning of the annual December vacation and the end of first-semester examinations.
“In order for the final tests to be done before the winter break, we’ve had to start school in mid-August the last couple of years,” said Jeff Kirtland, spokesman for Mesa County Valley School District 51. “We do hear from our community about starting before Labor Day.”
The national trend to start school in mid-August became firmly established over the past 15 years.
As state laws established minimum ages for farm workers, the need for school-age harvesters evaporated. When states began adopting standardized test programs, including the Colorado Student Assessment Program, school districts responded by rolling back the academic calendar, giving students more time to prepare for the tests.
DPS is investigating the possibility of modifying the calendar year.
A questionnaire on the DPS website, www.dpsk12.org, asks for community input on altering the traditional school schedule. Change would mean additional expense. So would installing air conditioning in the older schools – between $150 million and $200 million, estimated DPS spokesman Mark Stevens.
As it is, students scramble to find cool spots. At East, senior Hayley Sandersen tries to sit near open windows, but those seats fill up fast.
“There are so many bodies crammed in one room,” Sanderson said. “Everyone sweats. It’s gross.”
Staff writer Annette Espinoza can be reached at 303-820-1655 or aespinoza@denverpost.com
Staff writer Claire Martin can be reached at 303-820-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com.
