Schools in southern Ontario had a lot to deal with last week during a continuing heat wave. Trying to get established and organized for a new year was not easy in class rooms where the temperature rose above 30 Celsius with the humidex making it feel closer to 36.
“Teachers are extremely frustrated with the situation”
Sam Hammond, president of the ElementaryTeacher’s Federation of Ontario. He says in schools without air conditioning, most of the old schools throughout the area, it is a major problem. Hammond says, “those classrooms are registering 28, 29, 30 degrees (Celsius) at 8 o’clock say in the morning prior to students coming into those classes, so you can well imagine over the course of the day how that temperature rises from 30, to 33, 34 degrees.”
ListenThe summer of 2016 has been one of the hottest on record in the Greater Toronto Area. This past August is the hottest month ever recorded at Toronto’s Pearson Airport. Now teachers and parents are demanding action.
‘Teachers are extremely frustrated with the situation” Hammond says “they see it, and we see it as a health concern for themselves as well as their students, and primarily for their students. What we’re hearing is the learning conditions are negatively affected, obviously affected because of the temperatures, and we’re hearing that parents last week, for example, were pulling their kids out of school at different times throughout the day because of the heat levels in those classrooms.”
Hammond says the issue needs to addressed by the Ministry of Education through the Occupation Health and Safety Act. “There are laws, legislation around the opposite when there are cold days and we think it should apply when there are hot days or extreme heat as classrooms experienced last week, and will no doubt experience this week.”
Hammond also wants the Ministry of Education in Ontario to be adequately funded to invest in infrastructure, updating the older schools with air conditioning.
Toronto District School Board currently has a $3.5-billion (Cdn) repair backlog
There is an organization called “Fix our Schools” demanding that governments provide the money for improvements and maintenance. The group identified that the Toronto District School Board currently has a $3.5-billion (Cdn) repair backlog. In the meantime, when air conditioners are not available, students and teachers should be released from the unhealthy conditons that develop when the heat is extreme.
Hammond says the generalized statement that “employers must take reasonable precautions for health and safety” of employees does not address the current situation for teachers and students in overheated schools. He says he wants to see changes addressing a temperature threshold for heat, and he wants to see it implemented before next summer, to prevent a repeat of this past week.
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