Is it getting too hot for summer school?

Schools around the country are struggling to keep students safe and learning as summer heat intensifies. In New York City, a teacher described a classroom where the air conditioning barely worked during a 100-degree day, leaving students too drained to focus. Districts elsewhere have gone further: Philadelphia sends kids home early or switches to virtual days once temperatures pass 85 to 90 degrees, Madison, Wisconsin canceled elementary summer school when the heat index hit 108, and districts in Illinois and Rhode Island moved to remote learning or shut down summer programs entirely. Wildfire smoke has added another problem, forcing programs like New York's Summer Rising to keep thousands of kids indoors.

Much of the trouble traces back to aging buildings. A 2021 study found more than 13,000 public schools nationwide would need $40 billion in HVAC upgrades, and U.S. public schools average nearly 50 years old — Philadelphia's are 73. Even states that never used to need cooling, like Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, now do. Officials say retrofitting old buildings is far more complicated than simply adding window units.

For families, the upshot is that a school's ability to handle a heat wave often comes down to its building. Homes face a similar issue: kids without air conditioning at school and none at home get no break from the heat, which raises health risks and makes it harder for their bodies to recover. If your own house lacks reliable cooling, that's worth thinking about as summers keep getting hotter, and it's worth checking what rebates or programs might help offset the cost of adding it.