‘The classes are warm’: efforts underway to fix Boulder Hill Elementary School air conditioning

Oswego School District 308 officials are working to restore the air conditioning at one of the district’s elementary schools.

Boulder Hill Elementary School, 163 Boulder Hill Pass, Boulder Hill, started the school year Aug. 18 with broken air conditioning, leading to overheated classrooms and hallways.

Superintendent John Sparlin told the Board of Education Monday evening, Aug. 23 that he had visited the school earlier in the day with Elizabeth Palatine and Andrew Gothelf, co-presidents of the Oswego Education Association, the district’s teachers union.

The district has installed portable air condition units in all rooms at the school, as well as box fans. An additional seven units were dropped off at the school while Sparlin was present, he told the board.

“The classes are warm,” Sparlin acknowledged, adding that temperatures ranged from 78 to 81 degrees when he was there at about noon.

“Part of the issue is, we’re maintaining the ventilation, so the HVAC systems are continually going,” he said. “As the day warms up, it’s pulling in cooler air, as we’re trying to keep those rooms cool as we continue to ventilate the school.”

Boulder Hill’s gymnasium does have functioning air conditioning, as the room has a standalone unit, Sparlin said. As a result, the room is cool for physical education classes, and can act as a “cooling center” if a teacher needs to cool their students off.

Classes were also outside during the day, Sparlin said.

“The staff and everyone are dealing with the issue at hand as well as they can,” he continued. “They understand that we’re waiting on a part to be fixed, and we’re trying to expedite that arrival of that part as quickly as we can.”

Sparlin thanked the staff and administration of Boulder Hill for their work in making sure classes are as comfortable as they can be until the situation is resolved.