Heat Expected to Shut Some Schools Early

With temperatures expected to hover near 100 degrees again today, several San Fernando Valley schools plan to dismiss students early to spare them a long afternoon in broiling classrooms.

Los Angeles Unified School District campuses that do not have air conditioning in at least half their classrooms are permitted to dismiss students one hour early on days when the temperature reaches 95 degrees, provided they have notified parents a day in advance and made provisions to care for those children who cannot go home early.

About 25 Valley campuses--mostly elementary schools--took advantage of the provision allowing shortened days this week. At other schools, though, students and teachers sweated in sweltering classrooms.

“After three days of nonstop heat, we were beside ourselves,” said Mulholland Middle School teacher Barbara Mezo. The room where she spends five periods a day teaching science and math reached 90 degrees on Thursday, “and it was all we could do to plow through the day’s lesson,” she said. “We can’t not teach just because it’s hot, you know.”

Mezo complained because her school did not authorize early dismissal, but district officials said elementary schools have more latitude to dismiss early in hot weather because they have more discretionary “minimum days” than junior and senior highs, which spend the bulk of their shortened days on teacher training.

“And the high school kids can take the heat better than the little ones,” said Valley-area administrator Debbie Leidner. “The teachers do a really good job trying to make the kids as comfortable as possible in a bad situation, but when you’ve got no air conditioning, it’s tough. We hope these days will be over soon.”

Among those schools being dismissed early today are: in Granada Hills, Danube Avenue and Knollwood; in Canoga Park, Sunny Brae, Hamlin Street and Capistrano Avenue; in Panorama City, Chase Elementary; in North Hills, Lassen Elementary; in North Hollywood, Colfax Avenue; in Pacoima, Canterbury Avenue; in Sun Valley, Stonehurst Avenue and Vinedale; in Woodland Hills, Calvert Street; in Tujunga, Plainview Avenue; in Sylmar, Hubbard Street; in Encino, Emelita Avenue, and in Sherman Oaks, the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies.

In addition, several other campuses in the Van Nuys, Northridge and Chatsworth areas are expected to dismiss early. Parents should have received notices sent home with their children Thursday, but parents who are uncertain about their school’s schedule should contact the campus.