Students are finding ways to stay cool in A/C-free schools during Colorado's hottest summer ever.
/ FOX21: Mike Duran
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The fall semester is underway, but Colorado Springs School District 11 students are still dealing with the dog days of summer as classroom temperatures hit the 80s.
"It can take up to $2 million to implement for air conditioning, depending on the size of the school, so yes it's expensive to cool the building. We have proposed it to voters in the past and they have turned it down," Devra Ashby, the spokeswoman for D-11, said.
The school district is getting crafty. Over at North Junior High School classes are being taught with the lights off, students are bringing bottles of water and there's at least one fan in every classroom.
"When you don't receive the complaints that always a good thing, but I think the most important thing is the student and the staff and the building are a lot more comfortable," Kris Garnhart, Director of Facilities for D-11, said.
There are 13 schools in the district that are A/C free but one of the hottest schools, Mark Twain Elementary, just underwent a $1.2 million A/C project.
The air conditioning project paid for from the sale of Ivywild Elementary.
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