Clinton Climate

Clinton’s school air conditioning system is known to be temperamental; fluctuating each and every single day. We see our teachers bundled up in their huge winter coats while our classmates walk around with hoodies on top of their tank tops, regretting their decisions to wear shorts in the 80 degree weather and the next day, frustrated and overheating in their sweatpants. However, students simply nickname this situation “Clinton climate”. Some may say we should even have a new location on our weather apps solely for it.

All jokes aside, we are one of a small group of NYC public schools that even have air conditioning. As many of our teachers hint at, they did not have AC in school growing up. This is the story of almost 1 in 5 NYC Public schools, and we cannot even expect this number to decrease, especially now, with the federal budget cuts to the DOE. Therefore, the more wealthy and better funded schools in the city have more tolerable learning environments while the poorer, worse funded ones have conditions of intolerable heat, students suffering in the late spring and early summer months.

This lack of an essential element of wellbeing should not be tolerated any further. The heat makes one tired, unable to concentrate, and highly uncomfortable. Many students at Clinton have voiced concerns like this, one saying, “The heat made me really sleepy and I felt like I couldn’t concentrate as well in class. It was almost like it made me less alert.” This is not simply one person’s experience, NPR states that these feelings are scientifically proven, “One of these studies showed that… for high school students, taking a standardized test on a hot day is linked to poorer performance… Heat can influence us in sometimes-indiscernible ways. ‘All of these [studies] seem to point to a reduced ability to think clearly and quickly and efficiently when the body is too hot,’ he says.” All students should be given a learning environment where not only them, but also their teachers are able to be comfortable and not be constantly struggling through the day because of the sweltering heat. Students would walk around the school, borrowing portable fans, or making one with a math textbook or a binder, hoping the next classroom was a little cooler. During Clinton’s second Model UN conference however, the A.C. still hadn’t turned on and chairs and delegates were sitting in the heat almost all day. But then, the opposite also happened, we walked into class, in one instance seeing Ms. Codorean, the 10th grade photography teacher, dressed in a knee length coat in the middle of spring. Hoodies and sweaters started showing up again, along with Mr. Levin’s emails about the air conditioning. 

I certainly cannot imagine if we had to go through the rest of the year like we did for the first week after April break. If just one week in the sweltering building was nearly intolerable, how is it fair that some students put up with this the entire spring and summer? Action needs to be taken for all students around the city. The government should be stepping up, and instead of cutting funding should actually allocate more funds to school districts, providing a basic necessity like air conditioning.

So the next time you feel chilly in the building, just remember a sweatshirt the next day or dress in layers. Remember that we are lucky to have the opportunity to feel any relief from the heat outside of our safe haven of a school.