Madison Laster, the student representative to the Redondo Beach School Board, had no idea what she had touched upon at Tuesday night’s board meeting when she mentioned, offhand, that it had been a hot few days at Redondo Union High School.
Soon after, Redondo Unified School District Superintendent Steven Keller took his opening to reveal an extensive plan to start cooling down classrooms in schools across the district. The superintendent intends to officially propose the plan at the District’s October 18 planning session.
“There’s been debate among the senior cabinet at the district office, but between 10 and 30 days out of the year, it’s hot,” Keller said.
His plan, which he said he’s been mulling for some time, recalls the rollout of fans throughout the district in light of a heat wave that swept the Beach Cities last September.
The majority of classrooms in the school district, Keller said, lack air conditioning, and most of those that do are the district’s modular, “portable” classrooms or are repurposed computer labs. That’s common throughout Beach Cities schools and in much of the South Bay, thanks to the cooler, oceanside climate.
The district, he says, has three potential cooling options for installation: central air conditioning; exterior, wall-mounted air conditioning units; or interior ductless air conditioning units. Of the three, Keller seemed most inclined towards the ductless units. He indicated that central air installation may be cost-prohibitive, and that the exterior, wall-mounted units are big, loud, and energy-inefficient.
Efficiency seemed to be a key word in his report to the school board, as he hopes to present a model that would be cost- and resource-efficient. The photovoltaic solar systems installed at school sites were not designed with air conditioning installation in mind, leading to the potential for high electricity costs. Start-up costs to roll air conditioning throughout the district will be high as well, he said.
“But we’re not talking about finding money by going for a bond,” Keller said. “We have to potentially find money internally in our existing funding model.”
Keller also indicated that the rollout would be phased throughout the district.
“I don’t see us doing it in one fell swoop, in one summer. We don’t have the money right now, it’s a tall task,” he said. The decision to determine which schools would be serviced first would, in the model he’s considering, be determined by a committee that would work with teachers and staff before going back to the school board for a final decision.
Keller and district staff will bring the item forward again for further discussion and exploration at the district’s planning meeting on October 18.
“This is a long conversation, with a lot of money to be involved,” Keller said. “All I’m asking is that everyone keep it chill.”
