2 days ago
Hot classrooms have P.E.I. teachers' union urging province to take chilling actions
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It didn't take long for Prince Edward Island to switch from sweater weather to sweaty weather this spring.
Many Island schools that have never had air conditioning became mini saunas as the high temperatures really set in with the start of June, some teachers and students say.
"Some classrooms don't have fans… Even with the windows open, it just gets really hot," said Charlottetown student Joey Ho. "Sometimes I get headaches because of how hot it is."
"Sometimes I get too hot and I just ask to go on walks and miss like half of the class because it's just too hot. I can't handle it in there," said Emilio Hernandez. Asking for a bathroom break, the high school student said, he will "just go on a walk and refresh myself and come back."
"It gets to a point where you're sitting down and you're really uncomfortable because you're sweating," agreed Mohammad Arif.
The P.E.I. Teachers' Federation has been feeling the heat too, so much so that it has come up with a multi-year plan that it wants the province to adopt to make the shoulder months of June and September more bearable.
WATCH | P.E.I. schools have never needed air conditioning. That's changing, and they're sweltering:
P.E.I. schools have never needed air conditioning. That's changing, and they're sweltering
29 minutes ago
Duration 3:06
"As climate changes and days get hotter and hotter and more days are hotter and hotter, we need to look forward to the future and say: When is it too hot? When is the heat in the school just too much for the students and the staff to bear?" said federation president Andy Doran.
Environment Canada data show temperatures in June have been above historical averages in six of the last 10 years.
That's part of the reason why the union would like to see a policy in place within the next six months that sets out what will be done when classrooms and offices are too hot. In addition, it is asking the province to:
Supply fans for all teachers who request them.
Place at least one cooling centre in every school by 2028.
Ensure all schools are climate-controlled within 10 years.
Doran has vivid memories of 2021, when classes were in session while the humidex on P.E.I. reached around 40 C.
"Teachers were phoning the federation looking for guidance on what to do. Kids were feeling ill. Staff were feeling ill, and that's where we got this whole idea of 'we need to get something put in place,' because there's more and more of these days every year."
To illustrate the need for such a policy, the union asked teachers across the province to send in photos of thermometers in their classrooms this week. Some displayed readings as high as 31 C.
MLAs invited to schools
The federation also asked MLAs to visit local schools to feel the heat for themselves.
"They invited me into Birchwood, so I popped in there yesterday morning and I did breakfast program there this morning," said Green MLA Karla Bernard, who was a counsellor with the Public Schools Branch before she was elected.
"The difference in the temperature in one day — it was so hot in there this morning, I was sweating just from making breakfast."
She said that Charlottetown intermediate school got 30 fans from the provincial government, but they haven't helped much.
The Department of Education and Early Years said it has spent $125,436.73 on a total of 1,335 fans "as an interim solution" and they are currently being distributed to Island classrooms.
"Teachers also have a variety of educational strategies and practices at their disposal to deliver curriculum that also balances student needs. For example, they can move to different teaching environments, add additional breaks, modify movements, etc.," the department said in an email.
The Public Schools Branch told CBC News it has distributed all 1,225 of the fans it received from that tendering process.
