More teacher voices from our survey on the temporary cooling equipment used during the fall 2025 heat wave. These are additional quotes from teachers, in addition to the many quotes included in the main report on the survey.
Hallway fans generated extensive negative feedback
Many teachers described problems with the hallway fans not being hooked up properly, presenting safety concerns, extreme noise, and distraction to students.
On problems with hallway fan placement:
“the hallways were cooler than my classroom, but not cooler than usual as they are normally cooler than my classroom”
“My classroom was nowhere near the hallway equipment.”
“The kids liked standing in front of it after coming in from a very hot recess, but it wasn’t effective unless you were directly in front of it.”
Request for: “Better fans to blow air in from the hall into the classroom.”
Extreme noise & having to close doors:
“My classroom was likely warmer as a result of needing to close my door to mitigate the additional noise created by the fans.”
“We had these giant fans and there was no visible water component. One of the brands was ‘Big Ass Fans’ and the branding seemed somewhat inappropriate. These fans were incredibly loud, so much so that I had to close my classroom door in order to teach and hear students. This hindered the flow of air and limited the efficacy of my box fan as well. These large fans felt nice for about a second when I walked past them but didn’t seem to make a big difference in the overall climate.”
“We had a large fan outside my classroom door. It was cooling the hall but not my room. It was so loud that I had to shut my door. My classroom never went under 80 until this last week” (October 2)
“My class was still really hot by 5th period even with trying all the things with the windows and fans. The fans were also so loud I couldn’t really teach.”
“The fans seem to have brought down the general temps, but at the cost of everyone’s sanity as they were SO LOUD. Could hardly hear conversations in classrooms.”
“We just had the giant air fans that were super loud. I kept my classroom door closed because of how loud it was, making my room warmer because we couldn’t get a breeze through the windows. … I was more annoyed with the solution than the problem.”
Safety concerns:
“One of our hallway fans was right by a busy set of stairs. It probably would have been a hazard if we had to evacuate for a fire”
“Giant ‘Big Ass’ fans that were rented/no water hooked up. The back of these were like 10,000 little knives and were unsafe for students. Another ‘Big Ass’ fan blocked a stairwell. We are VERY lucky we did not have an emergency. Additionally, they were so LOUD. I have definitely lost degrees of my hearing from being exposed to the sound of the fans for approx. 4 weeks. It was very difficult to teach and be in the building due to the sound exposure.”
Issues with student distraction:
“The students LOVED that they were called ‘Big Ass Fans.’ Mostly, the giant fans felt like a joke on us.”
“Kids wanted to laugh and stand in front of it. Very hard for making routines in the hallway stick in the beginning of the year.”
“They were really loud and students were playing with them. Sometimes they were turning them off and on.”
“It was extremely loud and distracting, especially as a sped teacher. it felt unsafe to have such big equipment that can set so many kids off out in the open”
Some teachers had positive or accepting things to say about the big hallway fans
“I think it worked, the hallway was cooler and it didn’t feel so hot.”
“they were extremely loud, but better than nothing.”
“It was nice to have a place to go cool off – although it is hard to manage kids in the halls and impossible to teach there”
From a teacher who also had three box fans in their classroom: “Two big fans just outside my door and near my door helped funnel air … it came the monday after the big heat wave. So, kind of late but much appreciated, and it was used for all of September and a lot of October. It would have been interesting to see if the fans would have worked during the hottest part of the heat wave.”
“Kept air circulating”
“they worked well”
“Once they turned it down from high speed it was more manageable.”
“The big fans were helpful”
A teacher noting that they were not effective at bringing relief to the second floor said, “Wish we had more of them!!”
“kids would feel cooler air when in hallway walking to lunch or and specials”
“The hallways stayed moderately cooler but honestly I think it was a matter of only a few degrees. The kids liked stopping in front of the fans and getting cold air on them.”
“It definitely helped keep things cooler. But they were very loud, understandable though.”
“It was effective in the sense that my classroom stayed at a consistent 79-80 degrees as opposed to 85+.”
(*SIAFOS note: this teacher’s note of their classroom staying below 80 instead of above 80 may be confounded by the outdoor temperatures being lower after the temporary cooling equipment went in; this may also apply to some teachers who made similar comments about the portable AC added to their classroom over Labor Day weekend keeping their room just below 80)
“It was incredibly loud and disruptive. But so is heat so…”
Problems with placement, noise, and issues with the cafeteria / gym equipment
Many teachers described problems with the industrial air conditioning equipment powered by diesel generators in the cafeteria, gym, or other central location.
“The decibel level was too loud to call it a success on any level.‘could not teach over the noise level.”
“It was incredibly loud. I held a decibel meter next to it and it was 101. An internet search said over 100 for 15 minutes caused hearing damage.”
“I thought it was a massive waste of money when we just had to cut two positions at our school this year. I’d take the people over the cold any day.”
Regarding main entrance equipment at Cesar Chavez: “distracting during transitions between classrooms for students, and the long air movement hoses were kind of a tripping hazard as they ran from one end of the gym out to the front entrance hallway; some staff and students had to cross the tubes frequently to access their classroom.”
“…the diesel engine was right outside my window which means there was a lot of background noise to compete with as I taught and encouraged discussion……it was hard to hear each other”
“We had it in the library and the cafeteria, which seemed silly considering that is not where students spend the majority of the day.”
“… students only utilize the cafeteria space at lunch, our classrooms, where the learning happens, were still uncomfortably hot.”
“[The cafeteria] was a nice option for those who were able to move classes to the cafeteria, or to take quick cooling breaks. However, our cafeteria is small and can only fit so many at once. Also, we don’t have access to projectors, etc to do much teaching in there. Still better than nothing!”
“The generator was obnoxiously loud. My classroom is above the location and on the hottest days, I had to close my windows to block out the noise. It only partially worked. The constant loud hum of the generator, even with the windows closed, was stressful and gave me headaches every day it was on. The generators are NOT a good solution.”
Additional negative feedback on the policies around keeping upper floor windows closed overnight and only opening windows in the morning + positive feedback when windows are allowed to stay open overnight
“Fans were added and windows were opened, it was not effective. My classroom is south facing and was still 85 degrees even with all of the additional cooling equipment.”
“What was the most helpful was being able to leave open screened windows and fans on low overnight. … We do not have screens on all of our windows. Some classrooms have two of six windows with screens, some have three. It is very random and does not seem logical as to why they have not been replaced in general so that we can safely have our windows open.”
“We were unable to keep windows open over the weekend and so the building just wasn’t cooling off. If we could keep windows (even those that open to internal courtyards) open over the weekend that could have helped!”
“Windows open at night — we have proven this alone to significantly help reduce the morning room temp and therefore delay the intense afternoon temp climb.”
“Open windows at night. PPS says there are security issues even on 3rd-4th floor windows.”
“Let us open windows sooner before the school gets hot. Our building is like a brick oven so once it gets hot, it takes forever to cool down. Opening windows at night on the hottest day isn’t as effective as opening the windows on the cooler days leading up to the hottest days … Prior to this year, we have been told repeatedly that we couldn’t leave windows open at night on the top floors because animals might get in.”
“I asked to leave the windows open, and at first was told no.”
“Actually opening windows and finding a way to leave them open at night would be helpful. … Custodians told me windows had to be closed for safety overnight.”
“That 2nd floor windows be allowed to stay open all night and that all custodians actually leave them open! All windows on first floor must be opened as early as possible in the AM. Large box fans need to be placed in classroom windows that can actually exchange the air from the outside and bring it into the classrooms. … Teacher training about how to exchange the air in classrooms. Staff need to understand that windows should be closed once inside air temp reaches outside air so as not to bring in even warmer air into the spaces.”
“If my windows had screens on them so that I could leave them open all night or left the A/C running, it would have helped.”
“It would have been great to push the hot air out of the building, but the doors had to remain closed in the mornings.”
Request for following heat plan: “Early arrival of staff, opening ALL windows and ALL doors, and running ALL fans.”
Frustration with district policies, contract provisions, or frustration with existing policies not being followed
“…we were offered to have class in a space that is nearly impossible to have any productive class. Our heat mitigation strategies made actual teaching more difficult. I could sit in my 85-90 degree classroom where students expressed heat stroke symptoms but I had the environment necessary for teaching, or we could go to the cafeteria where there were other classes, adding to the noise and distraction, and no white boards or projectors with which to teach. It felt very much like the plan was, ‘lets keep the students in the building so that we can count the instructional minutes’ without any thought of the actual quality of the educational minutes.”
“The building follows the CBA, but teachers do not want to implement it. Teachers can request to move classes, but most are unwilling to move.”
“We have filed a grievance, but this issue has never been addressed. The only solution we’ve been given is that we can teach in an alternative space. That doesn’t work when the entire building is hot and it also is really a rotten solution, especially at the beginning of the school year when we are trying to teach routines in our classroom. How are we supposed to move all of our materials to the ‘alternative’ space?”
“I wish admin would proactively find a spot for us to go in the afternoon— I’ve always just asked a teacher who has a prep on the bottom floor to use their classroom, but I feel bad, and I know most other teachers don’t do this because they just feel overwhelmed. Like if admin could ask teachers in the first floor who have 3rd and 4th prep if it’s okay if we use their rooms, and then let 3rd floor teachers know about it, you would get more teachers taking advantage of it.”
“Temperatures in my classroom reach high 80’s. The last period of the day is unbearable for both the students and me. Leaving the classroom results in less effective lesson delivery so I chose not to.”
“Not thought through designs. We want to be safe, but for 10 years The fire Marshall said yes, you can put space blankets on the windows to keep the heat out. Then after 10 years, the fire marshall said no. PPS came and installed new blinds. But they installed them incorrectly and we couldn’t open the top windows so they had to come and take all the blinds down, get new blinds, and reinstall them.”
“I know it’s disruptive to families to cancel school, especially when it doesn’t turn out as hot as expected, but cancelling school when the temperature is in the high 90’s seems like the right thing to do.”
Overall descriptions of trying to teach and learn in excessively hot buildings
“One extra fan was given in September. It did very little to help my upstairs classroom with 34 kids in it and 56% humidity.”
“It is insane to have to compromise on air conditioning for children in a 90 degree classroom, so I won’t.”
“My classroom also receives afternoon sun and so my side of the building would get really hot. Even the week after the heat wave, my classroom was still getting up to 80 degrees because the bricks were still holding onto the heat.”
“My classroom is on the top floor and was over 85 most of the first 3+ weeks of school every day.”