It's really hot when Arizona kids go back to class. Experts worry about schools' ability to handle heat

Schools across Arizona are starting back up for the year. Some start this week, while others have already been in class for a few days already. And despite the relative cooldown to start this week, it’s still plenty hot out. And many other parts of the country are still on summer vacation.

Ali Poulos argues lots of schools are unprepared to deal with extreme heat, either inside the classroom or elsewhere on school grounds. Poulos is an associate professor in Arizona State University's College of Health Solutions.

Full conversation

MARK BRODIE: Ali, schools go into session earlier here than in many other parts of the country. But at the same time, if they waited until after Labor Day, it’s not that much cooler then. So does it make sense that schools start here when much of the rest of the country is still on summer break?

ALI POULOS: It’s a good question, and it’s a complex situation. After Labor Day, generally here in Phoenix, we do see our highest temperatures in the months of July and August. And one thing that starts to happen after Labor Day is that even though we still do in Phoenix get high temperatures during the day, we’ll start to see more cooling overnight.

And that gives us a little bit more time to acclimate, so our bodies get a chance to rest and reset easier overnight when it’s cooler. The morning temperatures are generally a little bit cooler, which when we think about how that might affect kids in school and learning, it might mean that there’s more opportunities to safely and comfortably spend more time outside when we’ve had cooler nights and cooler mornings.

So that’s a consideration when it comes to temperature and the school starts.

MARK BRODIE: So it sounds like maybe if schools here were to start a little bit later in the year, waiting for the bus or walking to school would be a little more comfortable, or for the elementary school ages, if you had morning recess, maybe you could be outside, that kind of thing.

ALI POULOS: Yeah, exactly. And even for our middle school, high schools, I think it impacts them, too. Often times the campuses open before school so kids can enjoy the grounds. Often times we’ll have sports teams that are practicing before school to take advantage of the cooler temperatures. So I think it can impact kids in schools K through 12.

MARK BRODIE: How big of an issue is air conditioning in schools, specifically in Arizona? Is this a problem that there are some schools that don’t have functional or AC that is sort of up to the task?

ALI POULOS: I’d say this is the Number 1 thing that comes up when we talk to schools, especially schools outside of Arizona. So Arizona is the only state right now that has a mandate for a certain temperature threshold in classrooms. So actually our state is in a better position than many others when it comes to having air conditioning and functioning air conditioning.

There are many other states and folks that we talk to in schools in other states where this is a huge concern because many buildings are older. Many buildings were constructed during times when heat wasn’t affecting the school years as commonly.

And in fact, in some of the older buildings across the country and across the world, built with brick and other materials that actually traps heat and actually is more hot. So not only do we not have a lot of schools that have adequate air conditioning, but they’re not designed for even airflow.

MARK BRODIE: I want to ask you also about shade, especially, you mentioned a lot of Arizona schools are open, you walk between buildings or you’re walking outside to get from class to class, and the younger grades, you have recess. How prevalent is shade relative to the amount of time that students are spending outside during the school day?

Ali Poulos

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ALI POULOS: There is not enough shade on school campuses, and one of the most interesting parts about this is that when we do have shade and shaded campuses, trees and shade cover is often located in the places where students are not the most active.

So generally on school campuses, you’ll see kids playing hard in fields during sports practice or out at recess or on courts. And when schools do have shade and trees, we typically don’t see those in places like fields and courts.

MARK BRODIE: I would imagine that would be hard to put a shade over a soccer field, though. You don’t want trees in the middle of the field that students are going to run into or that would affect a game a school might be playing, but how do you go about doing that?

ALI POULOS: Yeah, absolutely. So we are seeing more and more schools with shade coverings over courts, and then making sure that we have either treed or human-made shade structures available on the perimeters of fields where the kids who aren’t playing, the coaching staff, the spectators at sporting events can be comfortable. And then also making sure that there’s purposeful rest time where the athletes out in the sun get time to take a break, get in the shade and hydrate.

We visited a school a couple summers ago, and during recess every five minutes, the staff person in charge of recess, the teacher, blew his whistle, and everybody stopped. They went to the shade, everybody had a water bottle, everybody drank, they rested, and then they went back and played, and they did that throughout recess.

MARK BRODIE: Wow. When schools are looking to do things like that, I can’t imagine it’s terribly inexpensive to do. How much of an impediment is the cost to make that happen, even for schools that want to do that?

ALI POULOS: So there’s sort of a range of different things that can be done. So things like shade structures, especially permanent large structures, are very expensive. They’re very cost-prohibitive. So it’s not an easy thing for every single school to be able to do.

There are some grants that can help support funding for shade structures. There are a lot of great community groups that can offer tree plantings to add tree canopy and shade to schools.

But things like what I just mentioned, that school where they purposefully stopped during recess every five minutes and had all the kids and all the staff move to the shade and hydrate, those are very affordable and easy strategies that can be incorporated into the school day that can make a difference.

MARK BRODIE: What are the impacts of heat on how kids do in school, like how they actually learn and absorb the material?

ALI POULOS: Yeah, heat definitely affects learning, so there are studies, there is research that shows that school absence rates for kids are higher on days when it is hotter.

There are some studies that show negative associations with learning, with test scores during hot days. Kids are more irritable. They’re not as ready to sit and learn when it’s hot.

And just anecdotally and through conversations that we have with teachers and with principals, with parents, we hear that kids are irritated. I know my own kids when they come home from school after sitting all day because it’s too hot to go outside, they’re a little nutty. They’re ready to move around, they’re ready to play, they have some energy to get out. They’re not ready to just sit and focus.

MARK BRODIE: Are you finding that there are places that are really just starting to think about this and try to deal with it now, places where maybe heat wasn’t a concern or as much of a concern in past years, but it’s getting hotter there and now they’re starting to have to really think about it and try to come up with solutions?

ALI POULOS: Yes, yes, absolutely. I think what we’re seeing now is that heat isn’t seen anymore as an occasional disruption, but rather something that we need to be thinking about and planning for and incorporating into regular planning, just like schools do with so many other things every year.

MARK BRODIE: All right, Ali, thanks so much for the conversation. I really appreciate it.

ALI POULOS: It was great to talk. Thanks for the opportunity.

MARK BRODIE: Ali Poulos is an associate professor in the College of Health Solutions at ASU.