Some Louisiana classrooms struggle to keep kids cool as they get back to school
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Some south Louisiana students have faced delayed returns or canceled classes just as it's getting harder nationally to keep kids cool during the back-to-school period.
Why it matters: Maintaining a comfortable and healthy environment in schools is key to kids' educational success, but that's getting harder amid a warming climate.
The big picture: A Climate Central report finds that cooling demand between late July and early September increased in 95% of nearly 250 U.S. locations between 1970 and 2023.
- The nonprofit climate research group's analysis is based on a metric called "cooling degree days" (CDD), which measures the difference between a location's daily average outdoor temperature and 65°F — "considered the ideal indoor temperature," per the report.
- "For example, a day with an average temperature of 90°F has 25 CDD (90°- 65°)."
What they did: To get annual demand, CDD was added together for every day in the seven-week period when students typically return to school.
By the numbers: New Orleans saw a 23% increase in back-to-school CDD between 1970 and 2023, according to Climate Central, and Baton Rouge saw a 15% increase.
- Meanwhile, Shreveport saw a 26% increase.
Threat level: Signs show south Louisiana schools struggle under the increased pressure to keep kids cool in school.
- Air conditioning-related class delays and cancellations have already been reported this school year at Ponchatoula High School and the Emmett Gilbert School of Excellence in Westwego, according to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.
- McDonogh 35 also reported a cooling-related class cancellation, WDSU says. The issue even struck colleges, with Southern University of New Orleans canceling classes for the same reason.
The intrigue: State lawmakers attempted to make air conditioning on school buses mandatory during the regular legislative session earlier this year.
- "It affects every kid in the state," state Sen. Cleo Fields (D-Baton Rouge) said when the bill was discussed in committee, according to The Shreveport Times. "The heat in Louisiana we all know is unbearable and to mandate kids get on a bus with a heat index over 100 (degrees) to me is unconscionable."
- Retrofitting a bus with AC would cost between $8,000 and $10,000, an expert said, and the measure failed to pass.
What's next: Schools, like other buildings, will be forced to adapt to a changing climate — and that will eventually mean costly upgrades.
- "Buildings can be retrofitted with better windows and insulation to reduce energy waste, and existing fossil-fuel burning systems can be replaced with safer, more energy-efficient options," per Climate Central.
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