Nora Grace-Flood File Photo
Blatteau: "In some of those schools, kids and teachers are in hats and gloves all day."
As New Haven remains wrapped in freezing temperatures, some city public school buildings have been struggling with a lack of heat — causing educators and students to bundle up in coats and gloves in their classrooms.
The public school district and the city’s teachers union have heard several complaints from staff and students this week about the cold finding its way into class.
Christopher Latka, the teachers union building steward at Ross Woodward, told the Independent Thursday that he observed students “bundled up head to toe” during a math lesson in a first-grade classroom at the 185 Barnes Ave. school. The teacher in that classroom reported to Latka that their classroom was 54 degrees at the start of the school day.
Over the past week, Latka said, he’s received several complaints regarding the school’s heat. He added that the school’s admin have been on top of relaying the concerns to the district’s facilities team.
“It’s so sad that buildings can be so cold and don’t seem equipped to handle really frigid temperatures,” he said. “This makes learning very difficult.”
Latka said on Thursday he struggled to hold a pencil with trembling hands because of how cold it was inside the building. At around 2:50 p.m., he noticed that the school’s guidance suite heat kicked on for the first time all day. “I don’t get it, because we dismiss at 3:20 p.m.,” he said.
He concluded that he hopes the city’s recent funding boost for New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) facilities will be used to address HVAC concerns.
On Thursday, NHPS spokesperson Justin Harmon told the Independent that, since Jan. 2, there have been 174 heating-related service requests in the school system’s work-order system.
Harmon said the majority of concerns are minor, where the temperature in one or two classrooms is “uncomfortably cold.”
“In some cases, there is a quick fix: an element automatically shut down overnight so the water inside wouldn’t freeze; it didn’t come back on in the morning so a technician had to reset it,” Harmon said. “In other cases, a part is needed but has to be put on order, which makes the problem drag on. Or, the problem is more generalized: an old building has a functioning heating system but it just doesn’t keep up when temperatures are in the single digits, so relatively exposed spaces (such as the atrium at Wilbur Cross) are cold.”
He concluded that there have been a handful of instances, but does not have a precise count, where a larger space like a hallway, a cafeteria, or a building’s wing has experienced a complete loss of heat because of a major break. “Thus far, we have been fortunate to be able to resolve these relatively quickly. We have not had a situation yet like we have had in years past where we have to relocate classes due to the cold.”
Teachers union president Leslie Blatteau said she’s heard from educators around the district with concerns about cold classrooms that at times hit below 60 degrees, particularly at Hillhouse, Cross, Ross Woodward, and Celentano.
“In some of those schools, kids and teachers are in hats and gloves all day,” she said.
She pointed to state law that requires public buildings to be at least 65 degrees. She said in order to keep educators and students in the district, schools need assurance that the facilities team has plans in place to fix its building issues.
She emphasized that “on one side we’re focusing on attendance as a priority but on the other side, we don’t have adequately maintained facilities to ensure everyone is showing up to safe and welcoming school buildings. We must address this disconnect.”
She concluded that the recent heat issues in NHPS are also an example of “two New Havens” where there are “several thousand students [that] don’t have to deal with no heat” who attend Yale while thousands of others in the public school district do.