This story originally published online at The 9th Street Journal .
On September 17, Brittany Thomas received a text message from a distressed teacher at Merrick-Moore Elementary School. The air conditioning had broken down at Merrick-Moore, where Thomas is PTA president, and teachers were so uncomfortable that many threatened to call out of work, the teacher said.
“Can you please help us?” Thomas recalls him asking. “It’s 80 degrees and teachers are sweating through their clothes and the kids can’t learn…the front desk staff is saying they feel sick because they’re so hot.”
Brittany and her husband Aaron say they called the district and met with the school’s interim principal. Yet more than a week went by, and the heat did not subside.
Merrick-Moore is just the latest Durham elementary school grappling with HVAC failures. At other schools, parents have been urging the school system for months to address broken air conditioning and other maintenance issues. Now some are demanding long-term solutions, worried that their public schools are becoming unsafe learning environments.