DENVER — How hot is too hot to be in school? According to Denver Public Schools, 85 degrees inside the classroom isn’t hot enough. The principal at a DPS elementary school told her staff Wednesday that her request to send students home early was denied by the district.
Instead, the school planned to hand out popsicles.
The principal wrote in an email to her staff that the district denied a so-called “heat day” because only one temperature reading inside the school was above 85 degrees.
In an email provided to 9NEWS by the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, the principal of Traylor Academy in southwest Denver told her staff, “Please know that I am feeling the heat and advocating daily (sometimes every few hours) for our kids and community to try to get early release for the heat right now. You can share with parents that we are asking and getting denied because our inside temps aren't above 85.”
It’s unclear just how hot it was inside other parts of Traylor on Wednesday, but the elementary school is on DPS’s list of schools without A/C. It’s up to each individual principal to request to the district an early release because of heat. The district then approves the request. Or as we’re learning today, the district can also deny that request.
The principal at Traylor ended her email telling staff that they will refill the fridge with beverages and plan to hand out popsicles again for the rest of the week. She also tells everyone to dress comfortably.
In a statement to 9NEWS, DPS defended the decision to make the students at Traylor go to school.
"When the decision to approve or deny a school's request for early release due to heat is made, it is based on temperatures in multiple classrooms in the school the day before and what the anticipated temperature will be in Denver for the next day. Today, Traylor Academy reported one classroom over 85 degrees. Additionally, tomorrow's high temperatures are expected to be lower than the previous days this week, so the decision was made to deny their request. We will work with Traylor Academy to ensure that they will be able to have a successful day of learning on Thursday."
A DPS spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests from 9NEWS asking how many schools had their requests to send students home early this week because of the heat denied.
"In most cases the building leader consults with educators on their school leadership team but this practice isn't consistent within all schools. There’s a noticeable hesitation on the district's side to establish or communicate thresholds that would support a school's ability to call for a school closure or early release due to heat," said Rob Gould, President of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. "Our discussions with educators indicated that classrooms would need to reach temperatures as high as 87 degrees for the district to approve an early release or closure. Ultimately, the final decision lies in the hands of the district officials who often work in air-conditioned buildings."
Seventeen schools in DPS sent students home early on Wednesday because of heat in schools without air conditioning. Fourteen schools let students out early on Tuesday.
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