As heat and humidity soars, these metro-east schools are struggling to keep cool

The cooling systems at many metro-east schools have been struggling to keep up as dangerous heat persists for the fourth day and heat index values reach near historical levels for the region.

Belleville, Cahokia, Granite City and Pinckneyville high schools have been experiencing issues and adapting their instruction amid the ongoing heat wave.

“This is the hottest stretch I can remember for schools,” Belleville District 201 Superintendent Brian Mentzer said.

The heat index — the temperature combined with humidity — will reach 112 degrees in the metro-east Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. An excessive heat warning remains in effect until 10 p.m. Friday.

Granite City District 9 started work to replace an aging heating, ventilation and air conditioning system earlier this summer at Granite City High School. The old system remains in place but has been struggling to cool the entire building, according to Manager of District Communications Chris Mitchell. Some parts of the building are warmer than others, especially during the hot afternoons.

Eric Smith, the supervisor of facilities management for District 9, said he keeps the temperature in the school between 70-72 degrees on a normal day. With the struggling system, some of the classrooms now are between 75-76 degrees.

As a result, Granite City High School is providing remote instruction Wednesday through Friday, with a planned return to in-person classes on Monday. The school is still offering breakfast and lunch to students if they can get to school. Night school classes have not been affected and remain in-person.

Smith said the goal is to have the new heating and air conditioning system up and running by December.

Pinckneyville High School is implementing an early dismissal Wednesday through Friday, according to principal Haven Hicks.

The central air system was not working in three of the school’s classrooms, and the window units installed as a temporary measure were not keeping up with the high temperatures, he said. To keep students and staff safe, the school is dismissing around 1:30 p.m. before the heat’s usual afternoon peak.

Hicks said the goal is to be back to a normal schedule by Monday.

Belleville District 201 experienced some problems with its cooling system problems earlier this week, but Superintendent Brian Mentzer said they have been resolved.

On Monday, Mentzer said Belleville West lost one of its circulation pumps, causing the system to lose air flow. Then Monday night, a cooling tower shut down. As a result, the building was warm and humid Tuesday morning.

The district rebuilt the pump and put it back online Tuesday, Mentzer said, and monitored the repaired module to ensure further issues didn’t occur. Fresh, cold water also was added into the system’s water loop.

Mentzer said at 4 a.m. Wednesday morning, the temperature in the building was down into the low 70s and continuing to drop.

Since Belleville West is a big building that operates with one large cooling system, it takes time for the system to normalize, he said.

Due to the inability of the building to recover from the mechanical issues, the school will be dismissing early at 1:25 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, according to a Facebook post.

Belleville East operates on several smaller systems in the various campus buildings, and Mentzer said there have been some hot spots that are being addressed.

While most of the schools in Cahokia District 187 have heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, Cahokia High School was built in 1951 and doesn’t have one, according to Superintendent Curtis McCall Jr.

He said the classrooms are equipped with window units, and one of them went out Tuesday. That unit has been replaced, and McCall Jr. said that when he was in the classrooms earlier Wednesday, they were cool.

He said that physical education classes have also been less strenuous, since the gymnasium is too big for a window unit and only has ceiling fans.

The district is currently undergoing talks to eventually build a new high school, McCall Jr. said.