Extreme heat policy triggers remote learning in district

Dozens of Pittsburgh Public School students will move to remote learning two days this week as temperatures reach highs in the upper 80s.

In all, students and staff from 39 school buildings will learn remotely Tuesday and Wednesday after Superintendent Wayne Walters enacted the district’s extreme heat policy, officials announced Monday afternoon.

The policy guides the district to monitor the temperature inside school facilities — which are not air-conditioned — when outside temperatures are forecasted for one or more days to exceed 85 degrees and/or there is a heat index of 90 degrees or higher.

According to The National Weather Service, temperatures could reach a high of 89 degrees on Tuesday and 88 degrees Wednesday before expected thunderstorms roll through the region that night.

Impacted schools include Allderdice, Arsenal PreK-5 and 6-8, Banksville, Beechwood, Brookline, Carrick, Chartiers, Clayton, Colfax, Concord, Crescent, Dilworth, Fulton, Grandview, Greenfield, Liberty, Lincoln, Linden, Manchester, Mifflin, Miller, Montessori, Morrow primary and intermediate,

Perry, Phillips, Roosevelt Primary, Schiller, Science and Technology, Spring Garden, Spring Hill, Sterrett, the Student Achievement Center, Weil, Westinghouse, Westwood, Whittier and Woolslair. The Northview Heights Early Childhood Center is also impacted.

Grab-and-go meals will be available for affected students.

They will be available from 7 to 9 a.m. both days at Chartiers, Westwood, Morrow Intermediate, Perry, Northview Heights Early Childhood Center, Arsenal, Colfax, Fulton, Greenfield, the Student Achievement Center, Miller, Brookline, Concord, Grandview, Phillips and Roosevelt Primary.

Lack of air-conditioning is an ongoing equity issue across the state as districts with aging buildings struggle when temperatures start to rise. Last year, tens of thousands of Philadelphia students were sent home early because it became too hot in their classrooms. That same year, teachers in Columbus, Ohio, went on strike over a conflict with the district over a lack of air-conditioning.

Research shows that extreme heat in classrooms impacts kids. A Harvard study found that without air-conditioning, each 1 degree increase in school temperature reduces the amount learned that year by 1%.