Heat closes schools

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Elna Seabrooks
PHONE SCRAMBLE — Erica Tweedie, left, a teacher at Southside School, Jason E. Tarr, school principal and Renee Grant, also a Southside teacher, helped students call family members to advise them about the early closing on Wednesday due to high temperatures and poor air quality. It was to be the first of three successive days Peter Edgecomb, interim superintendent for SAD 29, would close schools early.
By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Unprecedented warm-weather dismissals due to unhealthy air quality and high heat sent hundreds of SAD 29 students home from school early for three days in a row last week, adding a few extra hours to their long Labor Day weekend.
    Peter Edgecomb, interim superintendent of schools, made the first call on Wednesday about 11:30 a.m. when the heat index soared to 92. The 90 degree heat and the uncomfortable 43 percent humidity translated into a “real feel” temperature that was not only difficult to tolerate, it was, for some, downright dangerous.
    The first day of early dismissals caught some families by surprise as teachers, principals, administrators and students scrambled to call parents on school and personal phones advising them that classes would be ending at 1:30 pm.
    Edgecomb said the heat built up quickly in the schools, particularly Southside School with its uncharacteristic second story in the district. SAD 29 schools do not have air-conditioned classrooms. As the temperature climbed, air quality deteriorated giving way to higher than normal ozone levels. “I visited Southside and most of the other schools on the first day and saw severe stress. It only took me a half-hour to experience what the students were feeling and I have no respiratory issues,” said Edgecomb. “It’s the first time in my 38 years in education that I have been involved in a school closing because of heat and air quality. It’s an extremely rare thing.”
Augusta’s heat wave advisory
    The situation was so serious on Wednesday that Angela Faherty, the education commissioner, and Dora Anne Mills, the state’s public health director, sent a joint communiqué to all superintendents advising them that Maine was “experiencing some of the worst air quality we have seen in several years.”
    The statement also contained information on warning signs of heat illness and dehydration along with a link to the state website that contains the policy on closing state buildings due to heat. According to the e-mail, there is no formal state or education department policy on closing a school due to heat.
    Extreme high temperatures can exacerbate respiratory illness or certain other underlying conditions. According to the joint statement, “heat kills more people in the U.S. than any other weather-related event.” Additional information in the statement asserted that “New England has some of the highest mortality rates associated with heat events.”
    Edgecomb said he has been a critic of early school closings because they reduce the amount of classroom time. “So, for me to close schools, I have to feel it’s a serious situation.”
    When Edgecomb went to Monticello on Thursday, he said there was no relief from the weather. And, he added that temperatures at the school “were still in the high 80s because a lot of that heat was boxed in at Wellington School even with windows and doors opened early.” Fans were no help in the schools because, Edgecomb observed, they were only pulling in hot 93-degree air from outside. He closed all schools at 1 p.m. — one-half hour earlier than the previous day.
Heat dragged on
    With no immediate prospect for improved weather, Edgecomb made an early decision about Friday “to avoid complications” and had the schools get the word out on Thursday to families that Friday classes would end even earlier than the previous two days — at 11 a.m.
    “I’m really pleased with everything the staff was doing to keep students excited and motivated,” said Edgecomb. Students had permission to leave the classroom to refill their water bottles and activities were moderated to minimize any heat-related problems. “I’m really impressed with the  principals and staff who performed so well under severe conditions.”
    When the superintendent dropped into a few classes at Houlton High School Friday morning after the pledge of allegiance, he spoke to some students to discuss the weather-related health issues as he had done on Wednesday and Thursday. But, there was a twist in his comments on Friday. He told the students they had been so good about everything, he was giving them Monday off from school.
    Some were surprised about an extra full day home from school. Others realized immediately that the  superintendent had a good sense of humor during a difficult time and his “gift” was already an official holiday — Labor Day.