‘Inhumane:’ Some Toronto parents pulling kids from school amid extreme classroom temperatures

Ruth Laurie's eight-year-old son cools off in the sprinkler. (Supplied)

It’s been a sweltering two days for students, teachers, and staff at schools in southwestern Ontario that are not fully air conditioned.

The temperature in the GTA has hovered in the mid 30s since Sunday and has felt as hot as 45 with the humidex, at points.

The heat wave has prompted some parents and guardians to keep their kids home and at least one board to shut down a number of schools all together.

It has also led to calls for a province-wide heat strategy in schools.

Junction-area resident Ruth Laurie felt the extreme weather was too much for her child and decided to keep him home from school for the last two days.

Laurie’s son is in Grade 2 at Indian Road Crescent Jr. Public School, which was built in 1965.

Like many Toronto District School Board schools, Indian Road Crescent has an air conditioned library but does not have air conditioning throughout the building.

“I just think it’s not good for (students’) health to be sitting in a classroom with no air conditioning,” Laurie said, adding she feels that assurances by the school and the board that they have the situation under control and are prepared for the extreme heat amounts to “insanity.”

“It is truly inhumane to ask our children to endure such a situation and I feel for all the parents who had no choice but to send their children (to school). Had the schools been closed, many parents would then be given leniency by their employers.”

Laurie said she feels her son’s school should be shut down, just like it was on Feb. 14 in anticipation of a bad snowstorm.

“There’s no escaping this heat – outside or inside,” she said.

“Climate change isn’t going away.”

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has said that about one-third of its 579 schools (177) have central air conditioning while another 243 have large air conditioning units that are being used to create cooling centres in libraries or gymnasiums.

The rest have smaller air conditioning units in their libraries and, in some cases, other areas, it said earlier this week.

TDSB warned of ‘uncomfortable conditions’ this week

The board sent out a letter to parents on Sunday warning of “uncomfortable conditions” this week, and outlining its heat reduction plans, including cutting back on strenuous activities and rotating children through air conditioned areas in schools.

The TDSB, however, said that schools are not typically closed during heat waves “as it would put parents/guardians/caregivers in the challenging position of having to find childcare with very short notice.”

Laurie, who is a self-employed wedding florist, said she feels fortunate that she’s able to bring her eight-year-old along to meetings or to her floral design studio, adding that her son has been doing some schoolwork from home and enjoying time in the sprinkler while she works.

“The TDSB needs to make a better effort to add air conditioning units to all classrooms, as this issue will only become more prominent as climate change continues to impact our weather,” she said in an email to CP24.

Gillian Marr’s two kids attend Bedford Park Public School, near Yonge Street and Lawrence Avenue.

The school, which originally opened in 1911 and has been expanded twice since then, is also not fully air conditioned but does have an air conditioned library.

Armed with plenty of ice water and cold cloths, Marr sent her children – a daughter in Grade 6 and a son in Grade 2 – to school the last two days.

“I just loaded them up,” she told CP24.

Marr said on Monday dozens of parents picked up their kids early because of the extreme heat, adding that she feels for the teachers and staff who must also deal with the uncomfortable conditions.

“Tonight is the Grade 8 graduation. I don’t how that’s going to work,” she said.

A current member and former chair of the parent-school council, Marr said she and other parents have advocated the board for years to install air conditioning at the school but no concrete plan of action has ever been implemented.

“It becomes a question of equity. … There needs to be a proactive solution,” she said.

“It is unhealthy and unsafe to have our children and teachers in these types of conditions and exposed to this type of heat for extended periods of time with no reprieve.”

Marr said there needs to be a conversation about these challenges in September; not in June in the middle of a heat wave.

French board closes 6 schools amid extreme heat

Conseil Scolaire Viamonde, the French-language public board in southwestern Ontario, closed six of its schools – 5 elementary and 1 secondary – in Toronto for the past two days due to a lack of air conditioning and no cooling areas.

In a statement, the board said this decision was made in the interest of safety and the comfort of students and staff as the affected schools (École élémentaire Gabrielle-Roy, École élémentaire Pierre-Elliot-Trudeau, École élémentaire L’Odyssée, École élémentaire Viola-Léger, École élémentaire Pavillon de la jeunesse, and École secondaire Toronto Ouest) are not air conditioned, nor do they have a space that can provide a “minimum” level of comfort.

The board added that while École secondaire Toronto Ouest does have air conditioning, it is currently affected by a system failure and they are “still awaiting replacement components to carry out the necessary repairs.”

Viamonde said it intends to re-open the six aforementioned schools on Wednesday.

NDP says a province-wide heat strategy needed for schools

The Ontario NDP, meanwhile, says a province-wide heat strategy for schools is needed.

Today, Shadow Minister for Education MPP Chandra Pasma sent a letter to Education Minister Paul Calandra outlining concerns about the impact of the extreme heat on student health, safety, and learning.

“They are neglecting the safety of our children at school, and this time it is by failing to protect them from the escalating risks of extreme heat,” Pasma said in a news release.

“Many of our schools aren’t built to handle the kinds of temperatures we’re now seeing in the spring and fall. It’s becoming common for classrooms to reach over 30 C. Students can’t learn, teachers can’t teach, and children’s health is being put at risk.”

The Ottawa West – Nepean NDP MPP noted that heatstroke and heat exhaustion are “very real threats” to students and staff, especially in older schools and in lower-income communities.

“We cannot continue to ignore the mounting evidence and expert recommendations. It’s time for Ontario to treat extreme heat in schools like the crisis it is,” she said.

“No child should get sick—or fall behind—because their classroom is too hot. We need urgent, coordinated action now to ensure Ontario’s schools are safe, healthy, and climate resilient.”

Specifically, the NDP wants to see a maximum indoor temperature standard established for schools. It also wants to see schools retrofitted with air conditioners or heat pumps alongside other improvements like better insulation, energy-efficient windows, cool roofs, exterior blinds as well as outdoor adaptations like shared trees, shade structures, and misting stations.

Protocols already in place for heat in school, says province

Emma Testani, Calandra’s press secretary, told CP24 that all school boards must have “protocols in place as to how they deal with heat in schools and are responsible for ensuring that each individual school follows all appropriate provincial and municipal health and safety requirements.”

“The province provides over $1.4 billion in annual funding to school boards to help renew and improve schools, including air conditioning. Over the next 10 years, our government is investing $30 billion to support school construction, renewal and improvement,” she said in a written statement.

“We will continue to monitor the impacts of the warm weather and work with school boards to help keep students safe.”