Is it getting too hot for summer school?

As temperatures soar across the country, summer school programs are facing a growing crisis. Grist reports that schools from New York to Los Angeles are struggling to keep students safe — with many forced to cut classes short, move to virtual learning, or abandon outdoor recess entirely. A New York City teacher this July found her classroom reaching one hundred degrees with broken air conditioning, leaving students lethargic and unable to focus, while officials barred them from going outside due to hazardous heat. The underlying problem is severe: over thirteen thousand public schools nationwide lack adequate cooling, and a federal regulation that would protect teachers and students from heat illness has stalled. Heat poses an outsized risk to students already struggling academically — their developing bodies are especially vulnerable to heat-related illness, and without outdoor play, they can't focus indoors. As heat waves and wildfires intensify, educators are improvising with indoor recess and flexible scheduling, but researchers say it's no substitute for the outdoor activity children need to develop and learn.

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