Heat wave leads to shorter school days in South Bay
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) -- The late summer Bay Area heat wave is prompting some Bay Area schools to shorten their school schedule on Wednesday and Thursday.
Campbell Union High School District, which has schools in Campbell and San Jose, decided to call for "emergency minimum days" at its 8 high school campuses because of limited air conditioning.
"This is unprecedented," said District Assistant Superintendent Brett McFadden.
McFadden says the forecasted 100 degree-plus weather over the next few days prompted the first-ever district-wide change because of heat.
High schools that will have minimum days Wednesday and Thursday include Branham, Westmont, Prospect, Leigh and Del Mar.
Most outdoor activities will either be canceled or moved in-doors.
"We became very concerned with the well-being of our students and our staff after numerous complaints. Concerns were voiced to us the last couple weeks because of heat and with extreme heat we decided we better error on the side of caution," said McFadden.
Notices of the schedule change were posted on school websites and email alerts went out to parents.
Dennis Karbowski has two teenage daughters at Branham High School and a younger child in 5th grade and says it will be a hiccup in the usual schedule.
"It's going to mean a lot of changes, a lot of moving around to make sure I get who I need to get home and so on at the right times," said Karbowski.
While some classrooms have air conditioning, less than half the district's classrooms have AC.
McFadden says it can be hard to learn when older classrooms get into the low 90s. One employee tells KTVU classrooms can get even hotter than that.
"We hope within a year or so we'll have air conditioning in all of our classrooms," said McFadden. "It's a high priority for us but in the meantime we better be safe."
Farther South in Morgan Hill, the temperature reached 104 Tuesday, tying Livermore for the hottest Bay Area location.
"I've lived here for 20 years. Hot would be anything 105 and up, I guess would be what I call hot," said Justin Collins.
The city this week has opened "cooling stations" including at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center.
Nearby, school children Tuesday night practiced in an air-conditioned room for a local production of "Annie," but some parents worry about school tomorrow.
"We're nervous because our kids go to school here and they have PE and it's really hot," said Gilroy mother Trish King. "[I'm] just nervous about dehydration. It's just gross hot."
Back in San Jose, Celestina Barraza from San Jose who is 9-months pregnant with a baby girl has one wish for the next 3 weeks before her scheduled C-section.
"I hope it cools down and it's nice and cool. No more heat," said Barraza.