Over the past few weeks, students and staff have been concerned about the heating issue in the A building. Building principal Andrew Neely and construction workers continue to monitor the situation.

“The main cause is that we are currently between two different systems. The old system has been in place since 1972 [and] is being replaced with a brand new HVAC system. So currently to make that happen they had to take down what is called the central fan which is in the A building,” Neely said.

The central fan is what brings air from the outside of the school. 

“So essentially what we have is air recirculating through the building which is why it’s been so warm because we aren’t getting that air movement,” Neely said.

Neely has allowed the staff in the A building to relax the dress code to business casual.

“There’s nothing we can do to fix the problem now, so we give them the opportunity to be as comfortable as possible based upon what they’re wearing,” Neely said.

Teachers in the A building have come up with solutions to handle the heat for not only them, but for the students. Spanish teacher Jamie Bergstein’s classroom has reached a temperature of 79 degrees.

“At first, it was rather difficult because I didn’t understand what the problem was. Some people had AC, and I didn’t. I’ve kind of just adjusted by using fans and bringing in a cooling unit from home,” Bergstein said.

Bergstein decided to come up with “rather ridiculous” conspiracies on why it is so warm.

“One of my conspiracies is that there is molten lava under the school. Another that the construction workers are actually aliens, and they did an experiment which made it so hot. The last is that the school is going through school warming–like global warming but it’s in the school,” Bergstein said. 

Math teacher Adam Redinger’s classroom has reached a temperature of 85 degrees.

“I have been trying to be more relaxed in class. We took one of my classes to the closed cafeteria, and I try to keep my door open as much as possible. I’ve been trying to do as much as I can,” Redinger said.

Sophomore Connor Fownes is in Redinger’s class fifth period. He has concerns about the heat and decided to email Neely to figure out the problem.

“I emailed Mr. Neely because my classmates and I were suffering in over 80-degree heat for weeks and appropriate action needed to be taken,” Fownes said.

Students and staff observed the heat becoming miserable toward the end of the day.

“The main reason for it getting warmer as the day progresses is that there are all of these little heaters running around that are about 98.6 degrees, AKA the students, so when you get a bunch of students in a classroom and there is not a lot of air moving, all the heat that is generated basically has nowhere to go. Those interior classes, like Mr. Redinger’s, are the worst ones because there is nowhere for the heat to go. Overnight there, it cools off because there isn’t a bunch of people running around. Then throughout the school day, it warms up because of all the different people,” Neely said.

According to Neely, the central fan should be back on the week of Nov. 4. 

Redinger gives thanks to the students for keeping up with their work.

“I would just like to say thanks to the students honestly for bearing with this as much as they have. It’s definitely difficult to focus in class,” Redinger said.

Neely has final advice for students and staff to be able to put up with the heat.

“The first piece of advice would be to dress in layers. When you are coming to school, especially in October, it is chilly. When you get here if you can get yourself down to like a T-shirt it could be beneficial especially if you have a lot of classes in the A building, but have a sweatshirt in case you get to a spot that is a little bit cooler. Dressing in layers is always helpful. Everyone is permitted to carry a water bottle, so if they need a drink sometimes that will kind of help stay cool. Try not to focus on the warm; you know it’s easier said than done,” Neely said.

The normal system will be back when the construction is done.

“The central fan should be back on next week. So it shouldn’t be too much longer and that should solve a lot of what we are going through right now,” Neely said.