Schools closing for heat and no A/C received billions in COVID cash

Why wasn't the money spent on A/C. I follow the money

School districts in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Pennsylvania are closed or letting kids out early due to temperatures in the low 90s.

The school districts say due to no air conditioning it would be unbearable for students to concentrate.

The Southfield, Michigan public school district posted the following:

“Due to the increased heat, Southfield Public Schools will be closed on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. This closure includes all schools, school-related activities, and evening activities.

Schools will resume classes on Wednesday, Sept. 6th.

Please be safe and have a good day.”

The Pittsburgh, PA school district released the following statement:

“The health and safety of our students and staff is our top priority. Exposure to excessive heat can cause heat-related illness. Therefore, when outside temperatures are forecasted (The National Weather Service) to reach or exceed 85℉ and/or a heat index of 90℉ or higher is projected for one or more days, the District will monitor the temperatures inside each school facility to inform decisions to protect the health and safety of students and staff. The District will determine if a temporary shift to remote learning or other action is necessary.

“The District will make the decision and communicate as early as possible to minimize last-minute disruptions for students, families and staff.”

Many parents are not happy with this decision.

As part of the COVID relief funding schools in the United States received over $190 billion dollars for a variety of different things.

Under the rules of that funding, school districts could use the money for school building upgrades such as air-conditioning.

The following is from the Government Accountability Office:

The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA) allotted money for “inspection, testing, maintenance, repair, replacement, and upgrade projects to improve the indoor air quality in school facilities, including mechanical and non-mechanical heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, filtering, purification and other air cleaning, fans, control systems, and window and door repair and replacement.” The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) then borrowed the same language.

In practice, these funds need to be spent on CDC and EPA-approved technologies. These include filtration, ventilation, and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI). (Thus far, ionization has not received official approval to make schools safer.

Many schools in the United States are long overdue for HVAC improvements. A 2020 Government Accountability Office report found that 41% of school districts needed HVAC improvements in at least half of their schools. Schools are working with equipment dating back to the 1930’s.

The Milwaukee Public School District also canceled classes this semester.

 According to the district’s spending plan, the district is using $15.1 million to renovate fieldhouses, pools and locker rooms. MPS will spend another $5.3 million to install turf baseball diamonds. 

To get an idea of how much it costs to outfit a school with a new HVAC system, the Madison Metropolitan School District is using $15 million of the $42.5 million it received in ESSER III to design and build new HVAC systems in three of its elementary schools.

These are the stories the main stream media is not investigating. They are not following the money. I am doing that. I am dedicated to doing it.

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