Heat wave: demands for Quebec schools to receive funding to install air conditioners

Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville says he is trusting school principals to manage the heat sweeping through Quebec classrooms.

The heat could continue for a few more days, according to Environment Canada, with humidex values of 37 to 42 degrees Celsius.

School closures due to the heat were ordered Tuesday by some school service centres in Quebec.

Many public schools, like the 60 part of the English Montreal School Board (EMSB), do not have air conditioning.

The EMSB is calling on the Quebec government to invest in ACs for schools.

“We do get a lot of money from the government of Quebec for renovations, but they always come with strings attached and never allowed to spend any of that money for making renovations to our old buildings in order to provide air conditioning,” said EMSB chair. Joe Ortona.

“Definitely it would be a good thing because it’s very difficult to learn in in such an environment,” said grade six teacher at Edinburgh Elementary School in Montreal-Ouest, Jean-Michel Brunet. “Im used to it, I can work with it, but for the students, it’s very like they don’t really learn these days.”

Some students agree.

Grade six student, William Fiori, says, the heat causes him to sweat quite a bit. “You’re breathing a lot and it confuses what I’m focused on, breathing or working,” he added.

“It’s really hot in all of the classes and I feel like its really hard to concentrate,” said Cassie Ramadori, also a grade six student.

At Edinburgh, portable ACs are in most of the classrooms, but thanks to the donation of the Home and School program, purchased by parents.

“I sweat a lot at recess,” said Ramadori. “It’s really hot inside this class, even with the AC going.”

Brunet’s classroom on Tuesday morning was 27 degrees celsius, thanks to the AC.

“If not, would probably be five degrees higher, probably around 30 to 33 and we’re not even at [noon],” he said. “This afternoon, I expect this to be five to 10 degrees higher.”

“if you put those kids even on the first floor, let alone the second or third floor, the higher up they are in the school, the hotter that those classrooms are going to be,” said CityNews 680, Chief Meteorologist, Natasha Ramsahai. “Outdoor time is probably best, even indoor indoor recess.”

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In a Tuesday media availability from Gatineau, Minister Drainville called the current weather conditions were exceptional.

“It will last a few days,” he told reporters in Gatineau Tuesday morning, while taking part in a ceremony to inaugurate a high school. “I’m putting my trust in school administrators to manage this.”

He urged parents to provide schoolchildren with water bottles, and school principals to allow breaks to ensure students are adequately hydrated.

“If the pandemic taught us anything it’s that kids are very resilient and it doesn’t matter how hot it is, they can get through anything,” said Edinburgh principal, Gaetano Sifoni. “It’s just reminding kids to drink water make sure to stay in the shade.”

Regarding schools under construction, the minister of education said the installation of air conditioners was not the government’s choice. For some 150 new school projects, Minister Drainville prefers mechanical ventilation systems.

“If the government of Quebec really wants to make education a priority, they need to be they need to be funding that and making sure that the school environment is one that really is conducive to learning and helps the kids,” said Ortona.

—This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews