An online petition has emerged with the start of heat waves to get air-conditioning in every LBUSD classroom. The petition, started by concerned parents on change.org, has received over 9,000 votes in two weeks. The online petition reads: “It is imperative that LBUSD update our buildings and put air conditioning in all of our classrooms. Temperatures have been consistently been rising, and hot weather is lasting well into autumn, in Southern California. Our children can’t be expected to concentrated in conditions like this.” With the start of autumn heat waves, the Long Beach Unified School District has continued to implement the use of minimum days to combat the heat. The minimum days were a feature started last school year While the minimum days are a short-term solution to the excessive heat in classrooms, it does not address the root of the problem: the lack of air-conditioning in every classroom in the school. Newly built schools in LBUSD, such as McBride High School, McBride Academy, and Roosevelt Elementary school feature full air-conditioning in all classrooms. A bond measure is a possible long-term solution to getting air-conditioning in all classrooms. This was the path of action taken by Bellflower Unified School District in 2012. A $79 million bond was approved by BUSD voters that improved overall structural issues with the district, which included updates to air-conditioning. Long Beach Unified is a significantly larger school system, and the full air-conditioning update could cost $700 million, according to LBUSD spokesperson Chris Eftychiou. Until the air-conditioning solution is solved, minimum days will continue to be implemented on a case-by-case basis.
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