Portland Public Schools and other districts in the metro area released students early from classes and canceled after-school programs on Monday due to extreme heat and continued high temperatures. This happened despite districts taking steps to bring building temperatures down, such as overnight ventilation and portable fans.

Schools’ poor infrastructure for high summer heat and chilling winter lows has been a core topic in many union negotiations and strikes around the state in recent years as well, especially as climate change ramps up these intense conditions.

So, why is it that so many Oregon schools aren’t equipped to handle extreme temperatures? And why is it important that they do?

For starters, the average K-12 school building in Oregon is 56 years old, explained Michael Elliott, the director of school facilities for the Oregon Department of Education. This is the average of main school buildings, which doesn’t include the portable buildings that many districts use.

“When those facilities were being designed and constructed,” Elliott said in a statement, “extreme weather was likely not a factor.”

ODE’s Office of School Facilities helps school districts throughout the state to manage this. It provides free, districtwide facility condition assessments and technical support, for example, as well as assessments for deferred maintenance, seismic risks and environmental hazards.

The office also administers the Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching Program, which provides matching grants to districts if they pass a local general obligation bond.

The goal of the program is to encourage communities to invest in their local schools, since school districts have the final say on how to use their funds. And the nitty-gritty of how these decisions and improvements are made is at the heart of why so many Oregon schools simply aren’t equipped for extreme temps.

A case study: Gervais School District

A year ago, Gervais passed its first school construction bond in more than 30 years, after eight failed attempts. It was critical that this bond in particular passed because the district wasn’t expected to survive without it.

In the end, voters in the small Willamette Valley town approved a $28 million capital construction bond — which came with an additional $6 million from the state’s matching capital improvements program — avoiding the likely closure of the roughly 1,250-student district.

“Quite frankly, if we were to have tackled every project that we do need to have done, it was over $100 million,” Gervais Superintendent Dandy Stevens told OPB.

“And so over the last three years,” she said, “we really whittled that down to just the basics of safety, security and appropriate learning environments, and that’s how we’re able to come up with the $34 million price tag.”

Over the last 12 months, the district has been working on the developmental and planning phases to improve the structures they already have. As Stevens put it, it’s much harder to remodel old, existing buildings than to just start new. But that’s all they can do right now.

“We’re having to be very purposeful in figuring out: How do we create HVAC systems in existing buildings that are not set up for modern day expectations for air flow and air quality?” she said. “How are we going to make sure that interior spaces are getting the kind of ventilation and heating and cooling they need, while working around asbestos and lead based products?”

This work, as a result, is very time consuming and costly.

Districts have to create favorable learning and working environments for the employees and students. They have to deal with all of the hazardous materials that were OK to use when the buildings were first constructed.

On top of that, Stevens said, construction costs are “going through the roof” right now because of uncertainty around tariffs and product availability. Some districts also aren’t sure whether they will be reimbursed as promised by the federal government due to expected cuts from the Trump administration.

Gervais’ high school opened in 1965 with no heating or cooling system. The district did small upgrades when COVID hit, Stevens said, but much of the building wasn’t designed with key temperature questions in mind, such as: How does the natural sunlight heat the building in different areas? Do they have the right windows to maximize energy efficiency?

“We had graduation in (the high school gymnasium) on Friday night. It was well over 100 degrees in that space,” she said this week. “There’s no way to get any outside ventilation in there. Like, you can’t prop a door open and have a fan on one side. It’s in the interior of the building, which is not how gyms are constructed these days.”

Gervais’ elementary school was built in 1934. There was an addition in the late 50s, and then a separate building in the early 90s that’s fully cooled and heated — that’s where the cafeteria and gymnasium are housed. That space won’t need upgrades.

“Some people may or may not know the day after the election (last May), the elementary school boiler basically blew up,” Stevens said. “So, we already had to replace the heating system for the elementary school, but we didn’t have time to do the HVAC system, obviously.

“So, in the next nine months, it’ll be full bore ahead in terms of getting all the HVAC systems in place in each of the individual rooms, and also trying to figure out, how do you ventilate and cool a building that has had multiple additions to it? It’s very complicated.”

And while a private company may decide to vacate a building and relocate its employees for the duration of construction, that’s not really an option for public schools.

“Our clients — our students — are going to show up at the end of August, and they will be here every day until June,” Stevens said. “And so, it’s not like we can close up shop and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to hold school in another building for nine months while we try to do these projects.’ ”

That’s why timing is so important, she explained. Districts have to maximize construction during the time that kids aren’t there. And if they need to continue when school is in session, they have to do so in the least disruptive way possible.

“Like anybody who needs to have a space that’s comfortable temperature-wise,” she said, “you also can’t have a lot of construction noises going on around you while you’re trying to learn how to read.”

Research shows that students’ ability to learn diminishes as temperatures rise. When classrooms are too hot or too cold, it also affects the staff’s ability to teach and work effectively.

Stevens compared the need to upgrade school buildings with car safety issues. When cars were first invented, they didn’t have nearly the number of safety features they have today. She said the same is true for these buildings — it’s not anyone’s fault, but they need to catch up.

“We now have a greater understanding of the importance of air quality to our health,” she said, “to everyone’s health, not just in a classroom.”

As districts consider heating and cooling systems, seismic upgrades, roof stability and other academic and safety concerns, Stevens knows money is a big obstacle. Gervais was lucky in that sense to pass a bond — not every district in recent years has been successful in that endeavor — and yet, they still won’t be able to fix everything.

“Budgets are tight for everyone — for our families, for school districts,” Stevens said. “There’s just never enough money to go around for all of the things that are needed and wanted.”

Still, she said they’re trying to be good stewards of public money and to work with the community to create basic work environments that achieve the best results.

“That’s what we’re working towards here.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/06/10/oregon-schools-heat-extreme-temperatures-weather-ac/