Pittsburgh, Clairton schools move to remote learning amid extreme heat
PITTSBURGH —
Two school districts in Allegheny County have made the switch to remote learning for three days this week due to extreme heat.
Pittsburgh Public Schools shifted multiple schools to remote learning beginning Tuesday, September 1, through September 3. The Clairton City School District will implement remote learning for the same 3-day period district-wide. Students are required to log in and participate in classes remotely, following their regular school-day schedule.
“The safety of our students and staff remains the highest priority,” a statement from the Clairton City School District said.
The switch to remote learning in Pittsburgh Public Schools affected more than half of the
district.
“You have to understand that many of our buildings run 10 to 15 degrees warmer inside than it is outside. And so when you think about putting several hundred students into a building that could have any heat index well over 100 degrees, it just becomes really unsafe,” said Gene Walker, Pittsburgh Public Schools board president.
Parents shared mixed reactions to the decision, acknowledging the inconvenience but emphasizing the importance of safety.
“It’s unsafe to have kids walking an hour in this heat, especially on their way home. And then inside the school buildings is also a problem, so, like, I understand why they do it. It is a bad solution to a worse problem,” said Mike Cummins, a parent of a Pittsburgh Public Schools student.
Cummins also pointed to the need for air conditioning upgrades in schools. Walker explained that installing air conditioning in one school costs between $4 million and $7 million due to the buildings’ age and infrastructure.
“I think over the last like 3 or 4 years, we’ve completed 5 or 6 air conditioning projects. Some of that using federal funding, using grants, capital funding from the district. We have a seven-year plan. That will get us to mostly all of our schools done. We’ll likely need a little bit more time to get to the rest,” Walker said.
Cummins expressed concerns about the timeline for completing air conditioning upgrades.
“The current plan has some of them getting done in seven years, and then we don’t know exactly. Maybe the rest in the next seven years. Fourteen years isn’t cutting it,” Cummins said.
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