Most Torrance Unified schools lack air conditioning amid record heat
Torrance classrooms without air conditioning
Most Torrance Unified schools do not have air conditioning amid record heat and high humidity.
TORRANCE, Calif. - Seventy-five percent of Torrance Unified schools do not have air conditioning.
With record heat and high humidity, some classrooms have become unbearable, and parents tell FOX 11 they are picking up their children early because it's just too hot.
School district officials say parents are not being penalized for attendance if they pick up their children early from school.
Torrance Unified School District communications director Sara Baillie explains they are trying to do everything possible to make the students as comfortable as possible, including extra fans, cooling centers, rotating students between air-conditioned rooms, limiting activities and constantly handing out iced water.
What we know:
Faced with budget cutbacks from the state, the district has been trying to get support for a school infrastructure bond. The price tag to retrofit air conditioning systems for all the classrooms and infrastructure would surpass $520 million. The additional parcel tax has not been popular.
The temperature gauge outside Carr Elementary reached 95 degrees today. It was higher yesterday, but it's expected to be cooler tomorrow.
Schools will remain open.
What we don't know:
How many parents picked up their students early due to the heat.