San Diego's Herbert Hoover High School students said summer followed them inside the first week of school.
The heat with no air conditioning was brutal.
“It made me not want to come to school,” said junior Gabriel Ramos. His teachers were sweating through it with him.
“Some of them brought fans from their house,” he said. "I just bring water from home.”
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Hoover High mom Lourdes Covarrubias has been watching helplessly from home.
“I have two girls and one of them came home with a headache,” she said. “She told me, ‘mom, it is too hot, it is extremely hot’ and another thing is that I think most of the students lose concentration because they are suffocating and breathing hot air, drinking water and I worry for their health also because they get dizzy.”
The San Diego Unified School District said it received 480 HVAC work orders from across the district since the first day of school ranging from simple system adjustments that can be done remotely to unit and equipment failures that require a technician response.
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It said all work orders are reviewed and prioritized based on heat severity and people affected. Since the first day of school, 105 of the highest priority work orders have been resolved.
It’s made a noticeable difference for students thinking back on last week.
“A lot of them were sweating a lot,” said Kenny Carrillo, another Hoover High junior. “Especially the ones that wear makeup, they're always complaining that their makeup is melting.”
Three of Carrillo’s four classes still don’t have working AC. The one that does is now her favorite class.
The district said HVAC technicians continue to work to troubleshoot issues and conduct repairs districtwide.
