Heat days v snow days? US schools cancel classes amid heatwave

Mr Chinowsky’s study found that extreme hot temperatures are starting earlier and lasting longer – from May to early October as opposed to peaking in July when schools are out of session.

“Which is why now you’re seeing so many more school cancellations because the temperatures they’ve got they never anticipated,” he said.

Mr Chinowsky said schools without air conditioning are generally the ones that close or dismiss students early.

But as temperatures increase, more schools that are only partially air conditioned – like the one Ms Wessels’ children attend – or have window air conditioning units are making changes to adapt to the extreme temperatures.

A 2020 US Government Accountability Office survey of 100,000 K-12 public schools nationwide found one third of schools need updates to air conditioning systems.

Mr Chinowsky says adding air conditioning to schools without it will require substantial federal funding.

Classrooms are limited in how they can address rising temperatures and are no longer able to open windows or doors to cool off rooms because of security concerns.

“The solution of let’s just create more airflow through the schools… that really is not practical anymore,” he said.

Some deem “heat days” unnecessary.

Parents commented on social media posts about district’s dismissing students and pointed to their time surviving in hot classrooms when they were in school.

Tiffany Justice, co-founder of parental rights organisation Moms for Liberty, said school closures hurt students at a time when they are already lacking in-person instruction following the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This idea that it’s too hot for kids to go to school or it’s too cold for kids to go to school… just makes school seem not that important to kids,” she said.

“It seems like the people running schools will take any opportunity to close the school when they get a chance,” she added.

The National Weather Service is calling this week’s extreme heat the first significant heatwave of the season.

It’s impacting the majority of the US – including the Midwest, Great Lakes, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

The heat is forecasted to spread from the central US to the Midwest before reaching the Northeast by the end of the week.

Heatwaves have become more frequent and more intense globally since 1950, according to the UN’s climate body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Scientists say extreme weather is becoming more frequent because of climate change.