School districts across Hudson Valley aim to keep students, staff safe during heat advisory

Students at East View Middle School won't have to suffer from the hot weather much longer because the building will soon be the first in the district to be completely outfitted with air-conditioning units in each and every classroom.

Emily Young

Sep 6, 2023, 10:06 PM

Updated 477 days ago

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School districts across the region are trying to keep students and staff safe and comfortable during the current heat advisory.
Students at East View Middle School won't have to suffer from the hot weather much longer because the building will soon be the first in the district to be completely outfitted with air-conditioning units in each and every classroom.
The district used funding it received from the pandemic.
"We tried to plan to use as much as we could of our American Rescue Plan funding to put new HVAC all throughout the school district, in all nine buildings," says White Plains Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joseph Ricca. "These are going to be much more energy-efficient as well, so in time, you're also going to save in terms of the cost of running units."
The district hopes to finish this project, which is expected to cost $40 million by spring of 2024.
The school is also combating the heat in other ways.
"We are rotating students around to cooler spaces," says Frank Stefanelli, director of facilities of the White Plains school district.
The Chappaqua school district is also rotating students, as well as keeping them indoors and making sure physical education class is low impact.
The New Rochelle school district has moved all its athletics indoors and has rescheduled a junior varsity soccer game.