POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Some teachers and staff members working for Polk County Public Schools filed a complaint against the school district amid claimed ongoing AC unit issues a day before of the start of the 2023-24 school year.
In a statement from the Polk Education Association, the union representing the county's teachers, paraeducators and secretary-clerical personnel, workers are said to be "burning up" when they should be excited for the first day of school.
The union claims AC units at 15 different schools "are not working or not working to the capacity they should to be a suitable, conducive learning environment for our students."
According to the association, members have been talking with the school district about the AC issues since the spring. This is the same time when the district reportedly was "systematically changing thermostats in buildings..."
While many of those previous issues were fixed, union leaders say the new AC issues are rising in tandem with the temperatures in Central Florida.
"This is not the time for AC units to be broken with parts on back order and a District labor shortage of AC technicians," PEA President Stephanie Yocum said in a statement. "Our District knew the looming issues with AC units and decided that the 'wait and see' approach would be better than being proactive in acquiring extra parts and securing labor to install and maintain these vital pieces of our teaching and learning environments."
The PEA filed a class action grievance against Polk County Public Schools, stating the employer is violating contracts by not maintaining "heating and air conditioning equipment, where available, to provide a comfortable and healthy environment when school is in session except in emergency situations."
Yocum said working conditions are directly tied to students' learning conditions.
"If our District is truly putting students first, fixing these atrocious working and learning conditions to a 'comfortable and healthy environment' is a must!" she said in a statement.
10 Tampa Bay has reached out to school district leaders for a comment on the complaint filed by the association, to which they replied:
"The nation is currently experiencing a significant heat wave. As a result, this is placing extreme pressure on Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) resources.
"The severe weather is impacting all of us — residences, businesses and schools. Every summer, just before school begins, we typically receive an influx of work orders for A/C issues as staff return to schools. This has been magnified by the ongoing heat wave."
The school district says several steps are being taken to "attack" ongoing issues, such as:
- HVAC technicians and additional teams of maintenance staff are being deployed to schools to assess and prioritize work orders.
- All available portable A/C systems are being deployed from inventory and will be used first in critical areas, such as portables and interior classrooms.
- Authorizing overtime pay for staff to handle work orders, including on nights and weekends.
- PCPS-contracted vendors will be assisting with larger projects such as installing new A/C units and ductwork.
- Constantly working to upgrade the HVAC equipment in our schools.
- Approximately $6 million has been spent to purchase more than 500 new A/C units. Installation is taking place as soon as possible.
- Students in classrooms without working A/C will be relocated to other areas on campus until fixes are made.
"We appreciate the patience and understanding of our staff and families as we work to address these issues as quickly as possible," leaders with Polk County Public Schools wrote in a statement.
The 15 schools the union claims have broken or no working AC units include:
- North Lakeland Elementary School
- R.W. Blake Academy
- Lake Gibson Middle School
- Spessard Holland Elementary
- Socrum Elementary School
- Davenport School of the Arts
- Horizon Elementary School
- George Jenkins High School
- Sandhill Elementary School
- Alturas Elementary School
- Traviss Technical College
- Bartow Middle School
- Crystal Lake Middle School
- Boswell Elementary School
- Kathleen Elementary School
"With more than 15 schools dealing with systemic AC issues and the list growing, tomorrow our schools will be welcoming students to hot, unbearable rooms with no relief in sight, and this is unacceptable," union leaders wrote in the release.