DURANT, Iowa — Just when you thought the summer was close to finished, Mother Nature hits us with one of the hottest days this year. Temperatures on Monday, Aug. 26 were projected to reach as high as 97 degrees Fahrenheit in Durant, presenting the school district with a challenge.
Students were back for just their second day of class. They left the hot outdoors for classrooms just as warm.
"Right now, we only have school from the end of August to the first of June," Joe Burnett, Durant Community School District's Superintendent said. "Because we're not a 12 month facility, we don't have air conditioning."
The building holds grades K-12, but the upperclassmen are the only ones using the second floor, which gets warmer and warmer throughout the day.
"[This is] one of the hottest rooms in the building," Steve Sands, a high school english teacher said. "At 7 o'clock, it was already 86 or 87 degrees. By the time I leave here at 1 p.m. it'll be in the 90s."
"It's a better learning environment in the morning than it is in the afternoon," Burnett said. "But it's still hot. And when you get 900 kids in a facility, [you have to worry about] body temperature and perspiration [and] what not. [Ultimately], it's the humidity that makes it uncomfortable."
The struggle has become clockwork, something students and staff face every year. Without millions of dollars for repairs, staff are left to open their windows, crank their ceiling fans, and do what they can.
"If we were [dealing with this heat until] July and we had six weeks in front of us, it'd be a different conversation," Burnett said. "But fortunately for us, it's a couple days a year. We do this every year at the end of August, and we'll do the best we can. Use common sense and keep our kids safe."
The district has already announced students will be let out at 1 p.m. on Tuesday tomorrow, as the heat is expected to continue.