Aug 13, 2018, 6:11 PM
(from K-12 Daily) Unseasonably hot weather this summer has pounded school air conditioning systems, resulting in high costs for repairs and replacements. Although most modern heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems are designed to run for up to 25 years, replacement can cost an elementary school upwards of $3 million, closer to $5 million for a middle school and $15 million for an average-size high schoo. And the effect may be more than financial. A study released last year by the National Bureau of Economic Research found a link between high temperatures in classrooms and lower performance. “On average, a 1 degree Fahrenheit hotter school year prior to the exam lowers scores by 0.002 standard deviations or slightly less than 1 percent of a year’s worth of learning,” the study team reported. “Relative to school days with temperatures in the 60s, each additional school day with temperature in the 90s reduces achievement by one-sixth of a percent of a year’s worth of learning. A day above 100 degrees has an effect that is up to 50 percent larger.”
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