CINCINNATI -- It’s hard to believe there are still schools in the area without air conditioning, but that’s the reality for the Deer Park Community City School District.
Officials dismissed students two hours early Friday -- the first day of fall -- due to high temperatures.
The top floors of Amity Elementary and Deer Park Junior/Senior High School can hover around 100 degrees in the afternoon, Superintendent Jay Phillips said.
"We look at not just the heat but the humidity ... what we look at is, 'Is this really a conducive environment for learning for our kids and for our staff to be working in,'" Phillips said.
The building was built in 1906, Phillips said, so it retains a lot of heat. The schools open windows and use fans to keep cool, but sometimes that’s not enough.
The district also released students early last month due to heat.
Phillips said it's always a tough call, but safety is at the forefront of every decision.
"Kids are here to learn, we want them in session, but when it becomes an environment that's just not conducive to learning and not safe for our kids, then we take the appropriate steps to get them out of that situation," Phillips said.
