Classrooms ‘cooling’ after major HVAC issues at Hawthorne Academy in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — An east Charlotte high school is now “cooling” after major air conditioning issues this week, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools confirmed with Queen City News.

The intermittent HVAC outages were at Hawthorne Academy of Health Sciences where administrators said the building’s automated control systems (BAS) were malfunctioning.

The following update was sent to Queen City News on Thursday. “Hawthorne Academy of Health Sciences has been experiencing intermittent HVAC outages in classrooms. A work order was placed on Tuesday, August 27. Since Wednesday, August 28, an HVAC contractor has been onsite checking each unit individually and troubleshooting errors. As a result, the building is cooling. The district standard set point for air is 74 degrees.”

A Hawthorne Academy student says she had a miserable start to her senior year in high school.

Not only was the temperature outside sweltering above 90 degrees on Monday and Tuesday, but she says her classrooms had little to no air conditioning.

“It was honestly very uncomfortable to be in a hot room, it’s very uncomfortable and it doesn’t feel right,” said the 12th-grade student, who did not want to be identified.

She says she got so sick from the heat inside her school on the first two days that she stayed home on Wednesday to avoid the unbearable classroom temperatures.

“All the students were like, ‘It’s too hot, it’s already hot outside and it’s hot in school,’ why would y’all even open up the school if y’all know it’s going to be hot?” the student asked.

Queen City News spotted an air-conditioning repair crew pulling into the school in the Belmont neighborhood on Thursday afternoon.

CMS officials say workers have been at Hawthorne Academy since Wednesday and that a work order was put in on Tuesday.

“All the teachers say they couldn’t do anything, they would be like, ‘Well, the AC’s off, you know it’s still not working, we’re doing what we can,’” said the student.

CMS says the BAS system, which controls when air comes on and goes off, malfunctioned. The technicians have been onsite checking each unit and troubleshooting errors.

The student says she felt major improvements on Thursday — when temperatures reached 99 degrees in Charlotte.

“It was a lot better, there was way more air conditioning,” she said. “It was still hot, but it wasn’t as hot.”

The school did not cancel classes, but students say teachers have been trying to move students to parts of the school that are cooler to try and accommodate everyone.

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