Kealing Middle School dealing with ongoing A/C issues, principal says

Kealing is not the first Austin ISD school to deal with air conditioning problems in the past few weeks.

AUSTIN, Texas — Austin ISD said maintenance crews are working to fix problems with the air conditioning at Kealing Middle School in East Austin.

According to a letter sent to families from Kealing Principal Timothy Estes, campus staff began to notice issues with the air conditioning unit’s ability to cool the building last Thursday.

This story continues below.

More in Education

Austin ISD Facilities Maintenance was contacted and found that one of the chillers had stopped working. Crews were able to replace it with a temporary chiller that evening.

Estes said the building began becoming humid again on Tuesday afternoon and Facilities Maintenance was called in again. Workers discovered that while the replacement chiller was running strong, a pump for the chilled water loop was struggling to pump enough cool water to the chiller.

As of Wednesday afternoon, maintenance crews were working to install a new pump. Estes said campus staff continue to monitor indoor temperatures.

Kealing is not the first Austin ISD school to deal with air conditioning issues in the past few weeks.

On Tuesday, Lamar Middle School students were let out early due to issues with the campus HVAC system. Those issues have now been fixed and students returned to classes on Wednesday.

On Aug. 27, McCallum High School leaders said the school was dealing with air conditioning issues. The issues were impacting multiple portables and classrooms, leaving them without working air. Community members were asked to donate quiet, portable fans.

On Sept. 1, Anderson High School also reported air conditioning issues. Students and staff were released early that day because the school’s HVAC chiller was only cooling 40% of the building.

In his letter, Estes said many of the concerns will be addressed with the 2022 bond phased modernization project.