Parents keep heat on district

Calls for the addition of air conditioning at elementary schools have returned with the summer-like classroom temperatures

TOWAMENCIN >> Parents of North Penn School District students renewed pleas to district officials, as summer-like temperatures have caused a familiar problem to reappear at district elementary schools.

“Something needs to be done about this, and something should be done quickly,” said Alana Paviglianiti, parent of a Gwyn-Nor Elementary School student.

Starting last fall, parents have raised concerns about extremely high temperatures in parts of three district elementary schools with no air conditioning: Gwyn Nor, Oak Park, and Knapp elementaries. In November, the

schools board’s support services committee evaluated several different types of air conditioning units, and in December the board put out a proposal for bids, but in March staff reported that no bids were received for parts of the package, and staff and the board said the project would have to be bid out again later in 2017.

The summer-like temperatures this week have caused the same high heat to resurface, Paviglianiti told the school board Thursday, but with a twist: three fourth-grade classrooms at Gwyn-Nor now have single-room air conditioning units, but they seem to be having little impact.

“I was there on Tuesday for a school event. The school in general was comfortable, and all of the classrooms were comfortable,” she said.

“I was also there on Wednesday and Thursday, with temperatures of 80 and 82 degrees” in the classrooms with air conditioners, Paviglianiti said.

As she spoke, she showed photos she said were of thermostats in those classrooms, taken both during and after school hours.

“Those units were set at 70. Those classrooms were 80 and 82 degrees, with those air conditioning units on,” she said.

Four adjacent classrooms on one hallway of the school all suffer from extreme temperatures, Paviglianiti told the board, but only three have had the air conditioners installed — and those three are the three where her son, who has medical issues made worse by high temperatures, has classes.

“My son can now be singled out by other kids, because it was only his three classrooms that have air conditioning,” she said.

“I believe that we owe every single child, every single teacher, every single staff member at these schools an explanation of how and why this was decided on,” Paviglianiti said.

Jennifer Kowalick, parent of two Gwyn-Nor students, voiced a similar concern she said was raised by one of her children.

“It was brought to my attention by my fourth-grader that two of his classrooms currently have the air conditioning units put in on Tuesday. My question to you is, which schools in the district were given these units, and how many classrooms have been fitted with them in the past month?”

District Director of Facilities and Operations Scott Kennedy said three have been installed at Gwyn-Nor and one more at Knapp Elementary. Superintendent Curt Dietrich said those units were installed because “we had to deal with some medical needs,” and said he could not comment further due to medical privacy concerns.

Board President Vince Shperinsky said any residents interested in discussing the air conditioning issue further should attend the board’s Support Services committee meeting, which will be held at 6 p.m. on May 30 at the district Educational Services Center, 401 E. Hancock St.