HVAC issues cause schools to dismiss early for a second day

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The heat is causing major disruptions for some Memphis Shelby County Schools.

Tuesday is the second day some of MSCS’s schools are letting out early due to HVAC issues. On Monday, MSCS emailed parents at 12 schools that classes would be dismissed early due to HVAC issues.

Early Tuesday morning, parents received the same message, causing many to be outraged. Parents at Sherwood Middle say this is all because of a lack of preparation.

“How [are] we going to get our kids? What [are] we going to do? I mean it’s hard for single parents and single grandparents,” said Janice Williams.

In August 2023, MSCS included $5 million in its budget for HVAC maintenance, but the problems continue.

“They had time to make sure these things were straightened out before the school year started. So, they need to prioritize things with high importance, especially the air,” said a parent.

According to WREG’s weather experts, Tuesday’s temperature is expected to reach 96 degrees with a heat index of at least 103. Temperatures will be in the 90s for the rest of the week.

Parents say the district needs to fix the air conditioning soon so the students can attend school.

“That’s the problem if they are not in school then they are in trouble and I already got one in trouble so I don’t need anymore,” said Williams.

We reached out to MSCS for a list of the 12 schools that closed early on Tuesday, but we have not yet received it.

Instead, MSCS released a statement regarding the district’s a/c issues.

MSCS board member Stephanie Love said she visited Egypt Elementary School on Monday and noticed that the school was hot in certain areas, but it remained open.

“The common area is hot. There are a few classrooms where the air is not working. And the principal made some arrangements to move those students out of the classroom,” said Love.

We asked Love if the issues could have been taken care of over the summer before students returned to school. She said money is a big problem.

“It’s not acceptable. But I want everyone to realize that the school board has a lot of aging facilities. We give the county commission a long list of deferred maintenance every year and the county commission don’t have money to satisfy us in deferred maintenance,” she said “We are all strapped for cash, but we could do a little better in communicating before the start of school. I do agree with that.”

When asked why MSCS did not delay the start of the new school year to fix HVAC issues, Love said board members do not have control over the day-to-day operations of schools. That is left up to the superintendent and her cabinet.

We asked Love if she believed daily attendance numbers may be why schools opened despite issues. Teachers who spoke with WREG said it was all about daily attendance and making sure you get credit. If students are in school at least part of the day that is counted as attendance and it is factored in.

“Attendance is how we get our money. But no one deserves to be hot. No students, no administrators, no teachers deserve to be hot,” said Love.

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Love also mentioned that improvement in communication is necessary.

“I received a phone call last night from a parent who works and they have elementary students. Let’s say their job doesn’t allow them to go and pick their kids up,” said Love. “That is stressful for any parent. We need to do a better job at communicating to our families.”

Love did say that Trezevant High School was closed on Tuesday due to copper wire being stolen off the air conditioner in a break-in “a week or two ago.”

But, she mentioned that this incident was a “different experience” because the high school did have air.

We reached out to MSCS to get updates on the HVAC issues and to see if schools will dismiss early for the rest of the week. We are still waiting to hear a response.

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