Henrico Schools makes AC repairs, but employees report chronic issues
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Henrico Schools’ facilities team completed repairs to address about 34 reported air conditioning concerns at various schools, HCPS officials said Thursday.
After fixing AC issues at eight schools by Aug. 16, the facilities team completed work on 15 additional schools, which HCPS officials reported had issues last week, before the first day of school Aug. 21.
“The school list of concerns provided for the Friday article were all addressed before schools opened on Monday morning,” HCPS official spokesperson Eileen Cox said.
Henrico Schools also received reports from several other schools after they released the official list of affected schools Aug. 16, with the facilities team completing work on “approximately 34 reported concerns” in total.
The facilities team has officially completed work at 23 reported schools: Montrose Elementary, Fairfield Middle, Kaechele Elementary, Shady Grove Elementary, Freeman High, Seven Pines Elementary, Glen Allen Elementary, Godwin High School, Springfield Park Elementary, Oak Avenue Complex, Tuckahoe Elementary, Brookland Middle, Lakeside Elementary, Johnson Elementary, Highland Springs High, Nuckols Farm Elementary, Glen Lea Elementary, Glen Allen Elementary, Regency Adult Education Space, Fair Oaks Elementary, John Rolfe Middle, Ridge Elementary, and Holladay Elementary.
Christine Coffey, a parent at Springfield Park Elementary – which had broken air conditioning units schoolwide – confirmed that the issues were repaired before school began.
“The AC was fixed the weekend before the first day, so we have functioning AC (for now),” she said. “I feel we are one of the lucky ones who got fixed.”
Cox noted that the team addressed 34 different reports, not necessarily 34 different schools. She was not able to provide a list of the total number of schools where AC issues were repaired by the time this article published.
A number of other schools reported AC issues last week: Hermitage High, Skipwith Elementary, Echo Lake Elementary, Maybeury Elementary, Ward Elementary, Mehfoud Elementary, Moody Middle and Holman Middle.
Employees or parents from four additional schools also reported AC issues to the Citizen either this week or last weekend: Dumbarton Elementary, Laburnum Elementary, Rivers Edge Elementary, Pinchbeck Elementary, and Henrico Virtual Academy at New Bridge.
Cox said that the majority of issues were not schoolwide and limited to particular areas of the building, such as a wing of classrooms, and that most of the issue reports were made to HCPS early last week.
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However, several Henrico Schools staff members have said that AC issues have persisted throughout the summer at certain schools and are not just recent occurrences. Many staff members asked that their names and positions, both known to the Citizen, not be used with their comments.
“The AC being broken are not new reports,” a Skipwith Elementary employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said Aug. 20.
“The units have been broken for months,” an anonymous caller from Laburnum Elementary said Aug. 18. “Our classrooms have read above 85°F, which could be warmer next week if not fixed, being the outside temperature will be 90-plus. The clinic is unable to keep room temperature medication, so the clinic is having to be relocated and parents are having to pick up medication.”
Staffers from Skipwith Elementary waited several days for the school system to address the issues, according to the employee.
“Skipwith started requesting help two weeks ago, it took several days of repeated requests to get someone to even come look at the issue,” the employee said. “It took several more days to even get the county to loan us fans. Skipwith has submitted at least a half dozen requests on this.”
Coffey said the facilities team have had to replace pipes and insulation in Springfield Park’s HVAC system during the past month, but issues were left unrepaired for weeks.
“I was told in a PTA meeting that it went out over the summer, got fixed briefly, broke again, then not fixed for weeks. So overall, over a month or two of it being broken,” she said. “But put one bandaid on, another leak springs up. And, frankly, I have questions about mold as a parent as well.”
The school system works to address HVAC issues as quickly as possible, Cox said, but repairs can take time due to delays from manufacturers when purchasing new parts and because the HVAC systems are much more complicated than home systems.
HCPS has approximately 500 mechanical systems “of varying types and ages,” Cox said, that cover more than 7.6 square feet of school space and 5,400 classrooms.
“It’s not like a regular system you’ll find in someone’s home, it’s large, multi-part, complex systems that require multiple people from different companies,” she said. “Not all repairs can be completed quickly based on the size and scope of the required work. That is especially true if we must order parts and wait for delivery from manufacturers.”
The school system also sets the cooling points of HVAC units at higher temperatures in unoccupied spaces during the summer months, according to HCPS Assistant Director of Communications Ken Blackstone. This means they don’t get many complaints during the summer because much of the staff isn’t there, but will see more service calls once the school year starts and the systems are still adjusting to higher capacities of people, he said.
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However, HCPS employees reported that with temperatures in the rooms very high even without classes in session, bringing students into classrooms with broken AC could be a significant health risk.
“Rooms frequently are hovering at 90 degrees with nobody or one person in them. Adding 20 children isn't going to help,” the anonymous Skipwith employee said. “We won't even be able to safely house them in our rooms. Given the number of medical conditions our staff and students have, high temps are medically dangerous as well.”
Broken AC units had not yet been fixed at Skipwith by Aug. 22, staff member Brandi Wilson Brown said on Aug. 22.
“We have half the school with AC and half doesn’t,” she said. “The school is doing a good job of managing through it though. I’d say all in all, our admin has handled it very well and we have all been flexible and making it work.”
Wilson said the school placed large industrial-sized fans at each classroom door and teachers without AC in their classrooms have been teaming up with other teachers that do have AC so their students can listen to a group lesson in a cool classroom.
Staffers also have noted that they would be unable to follow certain safety measures, such as keeping classroom doors closed, due to the heat.
“We have safety protocols that must be followed, but would be nearly impossible given the temperature of our rooms,” a Laburnum employee told the Citizen. “We heard multiple complaints from parents during open house about how hot it was. Our admin has worked very hard to get this issue addressed and fixed, but have received no advice on what action to take.”
A parent at Henrico Virtual Academy also raised concerns about COVID-19 risks due to the lack of air circulation.
“Definitely sweltering inside the school side of New Bridge where HVA (my son’s school) is now home-based at,” the parent said. “They only had two fans available to compensate for the lack of HVAC. Thankfully, a lot of HVA families and staff still utilize masks.”
Henrico Schools needs to better address issues that pose health risks and significant challenges to students and staff, according to the Laburnum employee.
“As we strive to offer excellence for all at Laburnum Elementary, what an embarrassment to start a new school year with these issues,” the employee said. “Henrico, do better.”
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Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.
