No problem. Little Timmy goes to school in this from now on:
Posted on 12/16/2005 11:40:33 AM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Bundle up, kids. It's getting cold inside.
As oil and natural gas prices soar, public schools are having to make some tough decisions: turning down the thermostat, finding alternative sources of fuel, even cutting back on the school week.
At Menomonie High School in western Wisconsin, principal Tom Wiatr has dropped the temperature a few degrees. Students started wearing zip-up sweatshirts and fleeces to stay warm, raising questions about a school rule against wearing jackets indoors.
So the school clarified its policy, even scheduling a fashion show to highlight acceptable clothing.
Naturally, it was snowed out.
So far, students are lukewarm to the school's strategy. The classroom temperature is 68 degrees.
"When we get into February, when we are below zero and the building takes longer to warm up, maybe then they will be a little more uncomfortable," Wiatr said of his students. "We just remind kids to dress appropriately. It is common sense that you just don't wear a tank top to school in February."
Schools are being socked with high fuel bills, whether it's diesel fuel to run their buses or heating oil or natural gas to keep buildings warm. Fuel prices have risen because of tight international supplies and reduced production in the hurricane-slammed Gulf Coast.
As schools lower the thermostats, they also encourage parents to make sure their children have a sweater handy.
"We have kids who go to school wearing shorts even in the wintertime, and the schools are making sure parents know their kids need extra clothing," said John Ellis, executive director of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents. "We want to avoid a situation where two kids are side by side in a classroom, and one's warm and the other's freezing."
In Council, Idaho, the school district is switching this winter to a new heating system that uses extra wood from the surrounding Payette National Forest. "We believe that this will be the standard in many of the small towns in the Northwest, because there is so much potential fuel out there that is being wasted," said superintendent Murray Dalgleish.
At the Clayton Public Schools in rural southern New Jersey, reducing the temperature in class is more than a cost-cutting tool. It's also a learning tool, argues Kathy Latshaw, secretary to the school system's superintendent.
"For the little ones, it's teaching them about hot and cold," she said. "And in the upper grades, they're able to learn about the cost of things."
Even the cost of brewing a cup of coffee on campus is going up.
In St. Paul, Minn., the school district has come up with a $25-per-appliance annual fee as one in a series of steps to recoup utility costs. That means teachers have to pay to plug in their coffee makers, microwaves and refrigerators in classrooms and offices.
At the Summerfield High School in Louisiana's Claiborne Parish, the sprinklers for the ball fields have been shut off, as have the few lights that used to be kept on after hours.
In western North Dakota, the Killdeer School District is considering going to a four-day school week, triggered in part by higher fuel costs.
With the coldest months ahead, school business officers are worried most about heating their buildings. Rising fuel costs seem to affect the price of just about everything, they say, from furniture and deliveries to construction material and even garbage bags.
Simply budgeting more money to cover heating costs is more difficult than it sounds, said Anne Miller, executive director of the Association of School Business Officials International.
Schools sometimes gamble, lulled by mild winters and lower heating bills. They set aside less for heating and more for salaries or supplies. When a cold winter or an energy crisis comes, they may have to cut expenses from the class. Or just keep those classes colder.
"Cutting something from the instructional side isn't something that anyone wants to anticipate," Miller said. "It's more a case of, we'll deal with that when we get here."
___
Associated Press writers Robert Imrie, Brian Bakst, Blake Nicholson, Carolyn Thompson, Chris Newmarker, Stacey Plaisance, Anne Wallace Allen and Rick Callahan contributed to this story from around the country.
On The Net:
Association of School Business Officials International: http://asbointl.org/index.asp
Bushfault!
When I was in college and the thermostats were turned down at Jimmy Carter's request, our department secretaries used to fill their coffee cups with ice and set them on top of the thermostats. It kept the heat running more so that normal people could work. Creative people can usually find ways around laws.
If the girls went topless there would be no need for heat at all.
Yep. Take a paper towel, soak it in cold water, drape it over the thermostat. Works like a charm. We used that in high school in the early '80s, but that wasn't an energy-crisis thing...that was a 1950s high school building that leaked cold air like a sieve!
}:-)4
Kids today need to toughen up a bit. Do we did back in my day - keep a halfpint of blackberry brandy in your pocket.
I remember walking 5 miles in the snow barefooted just to get to school.
No problem. Little Timmy goes to school in this from now on:
And yet cutting something on the administrative side isn't discussed.
Tip - administrators handle the budget.
LOL
Wow, they are bitching about the thermostat at 68 ... Thats where it is in my home and business both, unless I'm in a good mood and kick it up to 70.
68 is very liveable. Makes me wonder how high they had it set before!
Honey? Is that you? I didn't think that you Freeped!
Up hill both ways.
Me too, and it was uphill both ways!
68 is about 15 degrees too cold for me. (But then, my body temperature hovers around 100 all the time. I'm a big lizard.)
We compromise at home. We leave it to about 58/9 unless my daughter is home. Her bedroom is much colder, so we turn it up a little so that she won't freeze to death. I've begun layering to keep warm. Hubby thinks money spent on heat is wasted. We are looking at a 5000 sq ft house that needs a heating system and just the thought of heating it is giving him nightmares. But I definitely want it warmer at work.
68? I keep my home's thermostat at 66.
"So far, students are lukewarm to the school's strategy. The classroom temperature is 68 degrees. "
Good. This ensures that they won't be coming into my house anytime soon.
68 degrees is tropical, for God sake.
What a Hottie!! :)
The turn the heat back up.
Conserving energy is retarded. See California. Make what you need, use what you need, keep people employed and keep that money moving!
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