Poor Climate for Students
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Thousands of schoolchildren and teachers in the San Fernando Valley are housed in non-air-conditioned, overcrowded classrooms of 32 to 45 children, where temperatures will reach 95 to 100 degrees for the next few weeks.
My daughter’s teacher recorded the temperatures in her classroom last year and found there were more than a few instances of days over 100 degrees and even more over 90. Today the temperature in her classroom reached over 105.
These facilities were never intended to house students in the worst heat of the summer. Forcing children as young as 5 to endure these conditions for six hours a day is cruel and unusual treatment.
Parents have no choice but to subject their children to this abuse. If they choose to keep their children home during hot weather, the children will miss out significantly on their studies and be guilty of truancy.
If prison inmates were subjected to these conditions the courts would intervene.
If and when the Valley is finally able to break away and form an independent school district, one of the numerous ways it will benefit will undoubtedly be to revert to a traditional school calendar more appropriate in this climate.
JILL REISS
Northridge
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