As summers in the city of Newark get longer and hotter, air conditioning for all the district’s schools could become a necessity.
The Garden State’s average annual temperature has already increased 3.5°F since 1895 — and that increase could double by midcentury, according to a report released by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in 2020. Heat waves are particularly severe in parts of the city with less tree cover and more asphalt, which tend to house more of Newark’s low-income communities and communities of color, thanks to long-standing housing inequities and a legacy of redlining.
The question is whether the school district can afford the equipment and updates necessary to keep classrooms cool. Steve Morlino, director of Facilities Management at Newark Public Schools, says that while the district has discussed the installation of air conditioning throughout the district, “there is no specific timeline as this is a major funding issue and electrical upgrades and environmental remediation is needed to accomplish this in many of our schools.”
Because Newark’s schools were built between 1848 and 2016, buildings with air conditioning feature various mixes of window units and rooftop HVAC depending on their year of construction. Many schools have only partial air conditioning, and others have only the heating and ventilation portions of their HVAC functioning due to budgetary constraints. Thirty-two of the district’s schools have no mechanical ventilation at all.
“Air conditioning is not an option for everyone because of the cost,” said Assemblywoman Mila M. Jasey, the lead sponsor of a 2018 bill that would’ve set temperature control policies and standards for local schools, after a heat wave canceled classes throughout New Jersey that year. “It’s very uneven, in terms of where there’s air conditioning and where there’s not.”
For now, the lack of cooling across the entire district has ripple effects beyond impacting learning during the school year; summer school locations are limited to schools with air conditioning, limiting the infrastructural maintenance work that can be done at those facilities during the summer and sometimes delaying projects indefinitely.
Energy costs have also become a greater concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. Morlino says the district reset its existing air-conditioning units to run 24/7 and has provided air processors for every classroom.
In February 2021, the New Jersey Senate approved legislation to establish the School & Small Business Energy Efficiency Stimulus Program within the Board of Public Utilities. The program would help fund infrastructure improvements in New Jersey schools, including better air-conditioning systems to ensure the safety of students during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of this report, NJ S3033 is still pending in the New Jersey General Assembly.
Newark Public Schools will incur some of the highest cooling costs in the country. To read more about all of New Jersey’s schools, check out the New Jersey state page.