New Mexico

4 Investigates: Hot APS classrooms

Published

1 year ago

September 23, 2024

We are finally starting to cool off a little as we head into October. But some Albuquerque Public Schools are still struggling with hot classrooms.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – We are finally starting to cool off a little as we head into October. But some Albuquerque Public Schools are still struggling with hot classrooms.

We’re talking hundreds of open work orders, some in schools the district has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade.

“The problem with this is year is it was just so much hotter,” said APS Assistant Deputy of Operations John Dufay.

Dufay said, in a classroom full of students, even temps in the upper 70’s can feel sweaty and stuffy.

When cool air stops blowing, it’s more than just an APS emergency. At the start of this school year KOB heard from parents of APS students.

“I went in there right before 10 a.m. and it was already 86 degrees in his classroom,” said one parent.

Many were angry.

“Knowing that my baby, my child, is in a classroom for eight hours a day in the heat is not OK,” said another parent.

School staff secretly snapped pictures of thermostats for us. Even students themselves complained.

“Being in the classroom was pretty hard because I was sweating a lot,” said an APS student earlier this year.

APS should have seen it coming. From May to the start of school in August, KOB 4 discovered more than 3,500 work orders at almost every single APS facility.

Even schools that were part of a recent $26 million upgrade.

Despite spending more than a $1 million at Manzano High School, in the last four months, there were 59 work orders. Another $1 million at La Cueva, still 33 work orders.

Even schools that were part of a recent $26 million upgrade.

Despite spending more than a $1 million at Manzano High School, in the last four months, there were 59 work orders. Another $1 million at La Cueva, still 33 work orders.

We found 114 work orders at West Mesa after the district spent close to a million bucks there. Often, money is spent reviving old systems.

For example, Double Eagle Elementary School runs on more than 30 Air Wash systems. Old technology that’s like a large evaporative cooler. It uses water to cool air on its way to the classroom.

“A unit is not foolproof,” said APS Maintenance and Operations Technician Rupert Abeita. “Anything could go wrong with all that technology. Anything could go wrong at any time.”

Abeita is one of only eight in-house HVAC techs at APS. That’s down 44 from more than a decade ago, covering a district now twice the size.

Most APS buildings run on some type of evaporative cooler.

“I would say, probably 40% of the calls, everything is working it’s just not cool enough,” said Dufay.

We know the efficiency drops if there’s humidity and temps are above 95. But these systems live and pull air from rooftops that are much hotter. APS says its recorded temps of around 140 degrees.

It’s why many, like the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, are looking for a more reliable solution for the future.

“There was unanimous agreement that we have to start addressing this problem now,” said Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teacher’s Federation. “Every year it’s a little hotter and a little hotter, and we have more classrooms that are just inadequate to keep teaching and learning comfortably.”

We asked APS why they can’t overhaul current systems.

“A couple of things, cost, obviously is one, but when you do it, what are you going to do with the students?” said Dufay.

Dufay said overhauls routinely take six months, and sometimes much longer.

“Everything is going to come down to time and money, and the cost is so exorbitant to do it. So really there’s not one solution,” said Dufay.

For those schools, new roofing, new duct work, new technology, a total cost, the district said, of half a billion dollars.

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Published

1 day ago

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There is also $65 million for statewide affordable housing initiatives and $19 million for public safety.

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