Turn up the heat in DeKalb classrooms, please!
A neighbor sent me this: I am posting it as a public service to all those chilly teachers in DeKalb County schools. (I love cold, so it would suit me fine to teach in a parka and boots, but I can understand how it would be a problem.)
Baby it's cold outside and inside some classrooms apparently.
If you’re looking for blogging topics, did you know that many (or all?) of DeKalb County’s schools don’t turn on their heat until some ridiculous pre-determined date in November? It frustrates my wife to no end every year, because she is always freezing and needs to wear a coat in her classroom during the cold weeks we typically have in late October.
I mean, seriously, I realize that most levels of local government are broke, but no heat?? These are 6 year-old kids, and it’s cold!
My wife asked me to get the word out – hoping that maybe some publicity will shame them into turning the heat on.
Well, here is some publicity. Not sure if it will help. In the meantime, button up that coat. (No, that is not my neighbor in the photo. It’s a photo from the AJC archives that just said “brrrr” to me when I saw it.)
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19 comments Add your comment
Allen
November 12th, 2009
5:01 pm
I wonder when the heat comes on in the DCSS administration building
catlady
November 12th, 2009
5:55 pm
In our school we can turn on the heat anytime in the room, but there is none in the hall or bathrooms–ever! Well, not quite. The day Cathy Cox came to our school they turned on the hall heat for the first time in 2 years. When we go to the toilet you stick to the seat due to the cold! They also turn off all heat on the weekend, so we come in to rooms in the low 50s on Mondays in the winter. Don’t worry–it warms up by noon. In the hall in the winter, it is always below 60 degrees. Disgraceful! When I want to warm up I go to the Central Office, where it is always near 70.
Now I am hot-natured, so usually it does not bother me, but when I am cold it is COLD!
oldtimer
November 12th, 2009
6:19 pm
Every school I have ever worked in is overheated! I usually had to open windows to get some fresh air in by noon. Too much heat is very unhealthy.
gwinnett educator
November 12th, 2009
6:37 pm
This is the HONEST TO GOD TRUTH!!! I worked in Dekalb County from 1997-2007. Without FAIL..it was freezing in that building every YEAR. One year, it was so cold, my students and I walked around in our coats, gloves, and hats. We could barely function because it was just too cold. The front office staff was using space heaters, etc. I knew of one parent that called and complained. When the principal found out, she said that none of her teachers had complained about the cold air. LIE..because I stood in her face with my big leather coat on, scarf and gloves and told her it was TOO COLD!
Former DCS Teacher
November 12th, 2009
6:44 pm
Absolutely true. At the school where I taught for several years, we were constantly told that the county would not allow the school to turn on the heat until a certain date. In the summer, we were not allowed to use air-conditioning until their predetermined date either. I frequently taught in my coat. Even if this is NOT the case, and the county doesn’t actually have a date set ahead of time, isn’t it still a huge problem that teachers and students are being TOLD that is the case?
SallyB
November 12th, 2009
10:16 pm
Well, I taught 32 years in Dekalb. The poorly run operations dept.NEVER had the foresight to check to see if the air conditioning was in good working condition until school started in the horribly hot days of August. My school’s air ALWAYS had something wrong, and many teaching days were lost due to the stifling heat in the classrooms.
THey NEVER checked the heating system until it was turned on at whatever predetermined date…. and it almost always needed repairs before it would work properly. My room was so cold most years that functioning normally was impossible.
Oh….and the repair people they would send…..another story entirely. Days and Days and Days before anything was fixed. So glad I am retired, but have great sympathy for those who still struggle.
DekalbTeacher
November 12th, 2009
10:36 pm
This is absolutely true, but our heat is supposed to go on next week. But come on people, it just doesn’t get THAT cold in Georgia. I haven’t been cold once because I am constantly moving. It’s really not a big deal. Next week I will have to go back to short sleeves and turn my fan on so I don’t have a heat stroke.
say what?
November 12th, 2009
11:10 pm
This is the TRUTH. My room is cold, I have turned off the system, and it still blows COLD air. Because all heating and air is controlled by the service center, I guess we won’t get the problem resolved with all the current problems occurring over there. It’s a computer, and if called each room can be readjusted while you are on the phone with the person. Just keep getting the same excuse that the conversion date is next week. could richard Belcher please show up and ask Dr.Lewis what is the problem?
dgroy
November 13th, 2009
7:38 am
This is just par for the course for DeKalb County Schools……no one, from the top all the way down, has a clue. What the caring parents (if there are any) should do is storm the admin. bldg., schools, etc. and demand action. Nothing is going to happen till “the heat is turned up”, pun intended.
BlackGirl
November 13th, 2009
8:47 am
I too worked in Dekalb and it was quite chilly in my classroom. I never understood why they waited until a certain time of year. Every teacher should be able to control the climate in their class.
@Dekalb Teacher, my mom is a lot like you. She doesn’t think it gets really cold here, but she isn’t from Georgia. I am, and I think 32 degrees outside is C-O-L-D. It does get into the teens sometimes as well.
Joy in Teaching
November 13th, 2009
9:08 am
School temps in my county are all controlled by the BOE which is on the other side of the county. Of course some schools (including mine) require teachers to be there by 6:45 while the BOE doesn’t open until 8:00. If there is a dip in the temperature during the night, it doesn’t even start to get addressed until kids have been in classes for at least an hour.
Not that the BOE cares…it’s nice and toasty over there in the Taj Mahal.
Teacher&mom
November 13th, 2009
9:26 am
@ Dekalb teacher…room temperatures and outside temperatures are two different things. Having taught in a classroom where the average room temperature was 58 degrees because of the air conditioning and a poorly designed heating and air system, it really didn’t matter to me that it was 80 degrees outside. I was cold. I did not have an outside door or a window to open to help regulate the temperature. The opposite was true in the winter time. We were miserably hot.
My students have learned to wear short sleeves and carry a jacket. It may be stifling hot in Mrs. so-in-so’s classroom but next door it is cold. We are locked out of our thermostats so we can’t regulate the room temperatures. In an effort to save money, our system locked up the thermostats and everything is on a timer.
Meme
November 13th, 2009
10:56 am
Thank goodness I can control the temp in my classroom. The kids complain that it is hot in my room (76) and cold in some of the others. I suggest to them that they wear short sleeves and carry a jacket.
Turn up the heat in DeKalb classrooms, please! | Get Schooled | You Have the Right to Breathe Clean Air
November 13th, 2009
11:09 am
[...] the rest here: Turn up the heat in DeKalb classrooms, please! | Get Schooled Posted in Air Condition News | Tags: air conditioner, foresight, good-working, horribly, [...]
teacher/parent
November 13th, 2009
12:02 pm
Easy solution-just come up with another calendar where we don’t go to school unless it’s between 65-75 degrees outside. But seriously, this is ridiculous. Pinch your pennies somewhere else, but let individual schools and teachers determine when to run heat and AC.
Up front and personal
November 13th, 2009
1:53 pm
Philosopher…Really??? My kids and I always thought the teachers made the rooms cold to keep the students awake…no lie! And that is exactly what has been done during testing weeks, only colder…that they were told officially.
NA
November 14th, 2009
11:28 am
I (illegally) fool w/ my thermostat in my room, because the air conditioning is on. Across the hall, the air has been blowing full blast and my co-worker and her students walk around in their coats all day. The air is actually blowing papers posted on the wall and you can hear it whistling in the vents.
Sarge
November 14th, 2009
1:07 pm
It’s one thing to generate heat by moving about the classroom…quite another story when the kid sits, somewhat stationary, in chair. This sounds like a simple case of dereliction of duty. Who is responsible for the welfare of kids, teachers, and all personnel in the building? You gotit…MR PRINCIPAL HIMSELF. Now what would happen if, say, a concerned neighbor (un-named of course), noticing the absence of exhaust from the school’s boilers, called the media to “check up”…you know, those trucks with reporters and such. SOMETIMES, ONLY DIRTBALL TACTICS WORK WITH DIRTBALLS!
jackie
November 14th, 2009
4:06 pm
Who among us has not noticedhow school systems will take an old high school and spend millions on it to make a new administration building for themselves.Then they proceed to stuff the building with friends and relatives at exhorbiant salaries. Idiots without a college degree make a lot more moey than teachers and their life is never scrutiinized like teachers are.