Baltimore heat closes schools, will other cities follow? On Wednesday, parents were called to pick up their children at several schools in Baltimore City with no air conditioning after temperatures hit the mid-90s by the afternoon.
“Baltimore heat closes schools” is the headline emerging from Maryland for the second year in a row. On Wednesday afternoon, working parents were forced to leave their posts to collect their children all over the city of Baltimore.
Officials in Baltimore took the decision to close all schools for two days since the temperature and humidity made it unbearable for students to attend class or participate in physical activities. The temperature had reached the mid-90s by the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
Parents were frustrated when they arrived at the schools to learn that most of the classrooms were sans working air-conditioning.
Shekeyda Coates, the mom of a student attending Pleasant Plains Elementary in Towson who is asthmatic, said she was forced to buy her daughter a portable fan after discovering that she was having difficulty breathing because of the scorching heat. Coates explained to a local reporter:
“I bought her a battery-operated fan so that she would be cool because she has asthma.”
Kindergartner Mason Weatherley added that he wished that they had fixed the cooling system in his school. He went on to say:
“I was sweating like crap in there. It was really bad.”
With parents from 52 schools blasting officials on social media, the Baltimore County Council has announced that they will spend $1 billion in the next ten years to have air conditioners in most schools. Here are the steps that the state of Georgia is taking to handle the matter.
Normal Activities – Provide at least three separate rest breaks each hour with a minimum duration of 3 minutes each during the workout. Provide at least three separate rest breaks each hour with a minimum duration of 4 minutes each. Maximum practice time is 2 hours.
More information below:
For Football: players are restricted to helmet, shoulder pads, and shorts during practice, and all protective equipment must be removed during conditioning activities. If the WBGT rises to this level during practice, players may continue to work out wearing football pants without changing to shorts.
For All Sports: Provide at least four separate rest breaks each hour with a minimum duration of 4 minutes each.
Maximum practice time is 1 hour. For All Sports: There must be 20 minutes of rest breaks distributed throughout the hour of practice.
I’m sure the children are enjoying being out of school. You can’t do well in an unpleasant environment. Hopefully the weather will cool down sooner than later for most of the united state.