Air Conditioning in the School District of Philadelphia

Masterman can be hot. All of the classrooms except room 102 have window unit air conditioners installed, and they do indeed add some level of comfort. But once you exit a classroom, this comfort vanishes in a second, replaced with a heat flash from the uncooled areas of the building. The largest uncooled areas are the gym, auditorium, hallways, and cafeteria, which also happen to be areas where students should be able to comfortably rest. Why do only our classrooms have adequate air conditioning, and how does this heat affect the learning and mental health of our students? 

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Masterman is well-air-conditioned compared to other schools within the School District of Philadelphia. However, it is not in the most heavily populated areas— the gym, cafeteria, and the hallways. 

In the gym, students run, play, and exercise all day. These students are then left drenched in sweat from all the physical motion and lack of air conditioning to cool them down. During some days with extreme heat, it becomes a safety hazard to conduct a normal paced gym class, and these lessons are forced to be canceled.  

In the hallways, a gust of hot, stale air mixed with sweat, odor, and perfume floods the nostrils of scholars and staff. The University of South Carolina says that “a dramatic shift in temperature can tax multiple systems in the body, including the immune, musculoskeletal and cardiovascular system.” At Masterman, scholars transition from cooled classrooms to hot hallways 8 times a day, which could be harming their health. One senior expressed that she wishes the air conditioning were uniform, saying that the dramatic shift in temperatures causes a slight cold.

In the cafeteria, students try to find a moment to themselves in their hectic day. It is difficult to rest and relax when the heat is cooking the students as well as their meals. Masterman alum Eric Li (Class of 2024), recalls, “Sometimes we students just want to eat in the auditorium or the lunchroom; however, the excessive heat makes both of these options impossible. Especially with the restriction of student choice on where to eat,  more and more students are forced to eat their lunch uncomfortably in heat.”

These areas remain uncooled because of the expensive electrical upgrades required to install air conditioners—upgrades which “typically cost more than the units themselves,” according to WHYY. The cafeteria, hallways, auditorium, and gym also aren’t as important, as learning does not explicitly happen in these spaces.

Even with these heat-filled areas, Masterman still remains a well air conditioned school in comparison with the rest of the District. 28% of District schools still remain without air conditioning. The average district facility is nearly 75 years old. These schools were built for different climates (since 1970, the city has seen an increase of about 3° F on average) and did not require, nor think they ever would require, air conditioning. This not only means they do not have air conditioning, but also that they don't have the electrical capacity to run air conditioning for the whole school. Thus, the District has to upgrade the electrical system in a school to install air conditioners, and this racks up prices very quickly. According to CBS, Eagles Quarterback Jalen Hurts’ donation of over $200,000 dollars for school air conditioning was only enough for 8 schools, and 63 more schools need that air conditioning. 

When the heat gets extreme, those 63 schools close entirely or have half days, interrupting their students' learning but also saving their lives. And although Masterman, which does not receive a half-day, is extremely well-cooled when compared to other schools, it still leaves students and staff hot and uncomfortable with the temperature. When an air conditioning unit breaks in a room, it can sometimes take a while for it to get fixed. An anonymous student mentioned, “While taking a test, sometimes I’m more worried about how much I’m sweating rather than the test usually due to a broken AC.”

In the winter, conditions in classrooms get even worse. Masterman's old and antiquated heating system leaves no room for calibration or specific temperature, so they run on full heat. Teachers are forced to open windows and turn the AC on, during the winter, because of the unbearable heat from the radiators. Another student quotes, “The heaters get cranked up so high, so even in the middle of winter, I have to wear short sleeves to school. I’ve had teachers have the windows open during the winter to try to balance out the heaters. That heat really causes my eczema to flare up, and my hands have even bled a little sometimes”. 

With Masterman having adequate air conditioning, is it enough? Should Masterman close when heat hits extremes? Should class be canceled if an air conditioner breaks in a room? Should Masterman even still remain at 1699 Spring Garden St, with the apparent desperate status of the building? Should the heat even be turned on in the winter? Should students be allowed to learn in these types of environments? These are the questions the district and we should be asking ourselves when sending students to school.