JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Parents and students have been sounding the alarm since the first day of school: broken and failing air conditioning in Duval County classrooms during a heat wave.
The problem came to a head Wednesday morning when smoke from a broken air-handler motor forced an early evacuation at Crown Point Elementary School. About 20 students who had already been dropped off were safely relocated to Mandarin Middle School, according to Tatyana Wimberly, DCPS Chief Communications Officer.
Recommended Videos
But parents say the problem is much bigger than one school.
One Crown Point parent told News4JAX her fourth-grade son has been without air conditioning since the first day of school — last Monday.
“He’s been very uncomfortable. He’s breathing more heavily. He has asthma,” she said. “And it’s been, apparently, in the 90s in their classroom.”
News4JAX has received multiple tips, calls, and emails from parents reporting AC failures across the district — including at Stanton College Prep, Westview K-8, and Riverside High School.
Jacaelah Magee, a junior at Riverside High School, described what it feels like inside her classroom.
“Considering it’s like 100 degrees on a daily basis, I would say like 110, 111,” she said. “It’s like sweating in class. If there’s a bunch of people with fans — electric and folding — it’s really hot to the point it’s unbearable.”
News4JAX asked DCPS about the AC situation at three of the schools parents flagged. The answers were different for each one.
- Westview K-8: A chiller malfunctioned Monday, knocking out air conditioning in several classrooms. District maintenance crews resolved the issue Monday afternoon. ESE and CSS classrooms were not affected.
- Riverside High School: An electrical issue caused the outage. The school says all AC units are now back online and functioning normally. As a proactive measure this past summer, the school replaced the chiller in the impacted building.
- Stanton College Prep: The situation is less resolved. In a letter to families this week, Principal Majova-Seane wrote: “We have been informed that the maintenance team will be making its way to our school to inspect and address our chillers.” As of this week, families were still waiting for that visit.
Even at schools where the district says repairs have been made, some parents say they are not convinced the problem is fully behind them.
“They should be safe. The environment should be comfortable,” said parent Shavon Good. “How are they supposed to concentrate when they’re worried about sweating and being hot?”
Good said she was prepared to keep her daughter home until the issue is fixed.
“She would be missing school until the problem would be fixed, which means she’s missing her education and her ability to learn,” she said.
News4JAX asked DCPS Deputy Superintendent Corey Wright what the district’s long-term plan is to address the ongoing AC failures, particularly during the current heat wave.
“I would say that our chief operations officer would be the right person to address the long-term plan. I know there is one. I don’t have the specifics of that at the moment,” Wright said. “But to our families — our priority is to have an educational learning environment that’s appropriate for students, which includes air conditioning.”
What’s next
Thursday afternoon, the district said following a thorough inspection of the Crown Point Elementary building, an independent external vendor confirmed that the school is safe to reopen beginning Friday.
Below is the follow-up communication that the principal shared with her families:
“Thank you for your patience, understanding, and support today. I know this morning’s events were unexpected, and I am grateful for the calm and cooperation you showed as we worked to ensure the safety of our students and staff.
I want to reassure you that Crown Point Elementary has been thoroughly inspected by our district maintenance teams and an independent external vendor, and the building has been determined to be safe.
The inspection confirmed that there was no fire. The smoke resulted from a malfunction involving an air fan, and the appropriate repairs have been completed.
I am also pleased to confirm that school is scheduled to operate as normal tomorrow, Friday, at Crown Point Elementary.
Thank you again for your patience and for entrusting us with your children. The safety and well-being of our students and staff will always be our highest priority."
Katie O’Connell Principal, Crown Point Elementary
DCPS is expected to hold a press conference Thursday afternoon, where officials say they plan to provide more details on their long-term solution to the district-wide AC problems.
News4JAX will be there and will update this story as more information becomes available.