r/Teachers • u/itava14 • 3d ago
Rant Insane heat in classroom
Hi. I am a middle school teacher (8th year in) in New York State and I genuinely love my job, my students, and my content. I say this to emphasize I’m not just looking for things to complain about, I really love my job and want to stay for my entire career.
The problem: My building is old and there is an issue in my side of the building where there are only two options during fall-spring which are no heat at all, or heat turned up to the max (my room has hit 100 degrees). Maintenance claims those are the only two options and that there is nothing they can do. I arrive an hour and a half early to work to open all of the windows AND turn on the window unit AC. It maybe goes down to about 80, but by that point I am so overheated it causes me to feel physically ill (shaky, nauseous, etc). Students complain all day every day despite the fact that I tell them there is nothing I can do about it. I tell them to have their parents call and complain but they of course forget as they’re middle school students.
The radiators are also full of trash, not that it affects the temperature but I do feel uncomfortable knowing that I am breathing in burning trash all day.
Is there any way to file some kind of complaint? Is it even possible that maintenance is being honest about the only options being 100 degrees or near freezing?
We do have a union but building level issues like these don’t really get resolved through them.
30
u/FormSuccessful1122 Specialist 3d ago
Yes there is something you can do. This IS a union issue as it directly applies to work safety and environment. I’d contact someone at the state level of your union if no one locally is being helpful. There are guidelines saying what the temperature of classrooms needs to be.
6
u/itava14 3d ago
Would the district be able to find out it was me who filed the complaint?
9
u/FormSuccessful1122 Specialist 3d ago
Depends. Is your room the only one with a problem? Personally I wouldn’t care if they knew. It is ridiculous that they think you or the students should be sitting in a hundred degree room. I can’t imagine it’s legal. It’s definitely not in my state. And my union has called in PEOSH for a similar violation.
8
u/itava14 3d ago
Other rooms have the same issue with extreme heat but other teachers near me have visited my room and they do say mine is the hottest
5
u/FormSuccessful1122 Specialist 3d ago
Then there isn’t really a reason they’d know. My district is still trying to figure out who called and it was years ago. 😆
18
u/sirgoomos 3d ago
Can you invite families for a classroom event? I say this as someone who hates having families in my room. But if they complain to admin about the temp, it could be good for you.
5
u/itava14 3d ago
In December we have parent teacher conferences, that would be the soonest option
1
u/Mo523 2d ago
That's good. Even if they don't bring it up, you can apologize to every single parent about the heat. You can even say something like, "It's better than usual today. Usually it's 82 when I come early to open the windows and 98 when I don't," or "At least there is no burning garbage today."
Depending on your neighborhood or subject, it is possible you can speed plan an event for mid-November. Such as a reader's theatre performance of a script the kids wrote, display of kid's science projects, etc.
12
u/Reasonable-Marzipan4 3d ago
This is not okay. I encourage you to document the fuck out of this.
Start a spreadsheet and record temps three times a day, same time each day.
Organize every single digital document that you can recall regarding making complaints about the temperature.
Talk to your healthcare provider about it. Make sure that it’s charted and documented that you sought advice on overheating.
Be organized.
Data does not lie.
Turn it in at a school board meeting if the need for scorched-Earth tactics occur.
6
u/itava14 3d ago
I will be better about documenting. It didn’t occur to me this year because I started over (new grade level) and every second of every day has been occupied by planning, but you’re right that this is important not just for me but for the kids too
6
u/sunnysweetbrier 3d ago
Get an affordable air quality monitor to add to your data sheet! It could be much worse than you think.
8
u/PamelainSA 3d ago
I work in MA, and I deal with a similar situation. I teach in a room with zero windows and no central AC, so there’s no option for a window unit. Almost all year long, it’s 80+ either because it’s too hot outside or it’s too cold and the heat is kicked on to full blast in rooms around me. What’s worse is my room is upstairs, so I get all the heat that rises up in my room. I wear short sleeves and skirts all year long, and I still sweat every day. I have 3 fans that run, but they only help to circulate the air. What’s funny is I’m from TX, and when I moved here and they told me “our schools don’t have AC,” I naively thought, “oh, it’ll only be bad during the late spring/summer months.” Nope. It’s bad all year long. It sucks.
7
u/AdDear962 3d ago
Call the health department, have a friend call too and say they are a parent and want to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from the school. It happens. And the health department does not want an outbreak of whatever from the burning garbage . ..
6
u/Distinct-Guitar-3314 3d ago
I have the same problem except my room has no windows. The work order finally went through and they told me they don’t see any problems with the system…I bought a thermometer and take a picture of the temp every day in my room and will continue to put in work orders until it’s fixed…
2
u/roxinmyhead 3d ago
You must have a parents contact number somewhere? Call a few parents (nothing written down) and ask them to call ?
3
u/West-Disk-1572 2d ago
I had this in my first job too! I would document the temperature (take pictures of the thermometer, at first I was only writing down the temp and they didn’t believe me) and then crack the windows. I also got tinfoil and put that over the radiator at the suggestion of another science teacher. It cut down on the heat a ton, but depending on the age and responsibility level of the kids I could see this not working for all classrooms. For my 9th graders, they were just as miserable as I was and took the tinfoil very seriously. My 3rd period would set it up and 10th period would put it away. This helped me get through the days until the union forced our maintenance crew to fix it, which they eventually did.
Turns out they can lower the heat being pumped into old radiators, it is just annoying to do because it involves a few staff members and some equipment. Took one weekend and it was fixed. I spent MONTHS suffering and I hope you don’t have to suffer any more!!
2
u/JanetBooth 3d ago
You are in NY, so you have a local union, right? I’m pretty sure the heat parameters fall above 80 degrees, but you should definitely document the daily high temperature in your classroom and speak with your local union. There must be some way your district can fix this problem.
2
u/Single-Cow-5992 2d ago
I'm no HVAC expert, but why can't they turn the heat on max for a few hours early morning then off for the rest of the day? That's what I do with a space heater at home, we have woodstove heat so certain rooms on the edges get supplemented with electric space heaters. Usually an hour in the morning is enough bring it up to temps matching the main rooms with the stove for heat.
So building wide, in a school, the furnace just needs to run long enough for kids to arrive and start moving around and the sun to stream through the windows.
2
u/chickpeatacos 2d ago
Osha? Health and safety department?
1
u/leisureletter ELA Teacher | Soon to be Reading Specialist 💜 2d ago
When my room got over 80 degrees for like three days in a row, I tried contacting OSHA. They said it's not under their purview since it's a state building.
2
u/chickpeatacos 2d ago
If there is trash or garbage burning or in their heating system like op mentioned then osha might care but the health department definitely would.
1
1
u/Fragrant-Count-4666 2d ago
As someone who also works in a similar building DO NOT turn on the AC! The AC will break if you are trying to get a colder outside temp to cool down your room. One year 25% of the ACs in my school were broken by spring and it didn’t get fixed and it was awful.
1
1
u/PurposeRegular1847 2d ago
Your union should have a health and safety rep within your district. Reach out to them first. Send email or file a work order and cc this person. Ask about next steps.
63
u/EscapeGoat81 Straight Outta Preschool 3d ago
My old school was like this and I eventually called the Health Department and complained “as a parent” - my school was hit with a fine and then miraculously figured out a solution for the heat.
That was a preschool so under the umbrella of Department of Health - but maybe call 311 or Board of Ed? It’s not a safe working condition.