Houston ISD officials announced around 7:30 a.m. May 21 that Marshall and Hamilton middle schools will also be closed May 21.
In separate messages sent to community members of both schools, officials wrote: "We had planned to open our campus today, but overnight our campus air conditioning failed and we cannot serve students safely at this time."
Posted: 6:25 p.m. May 20
Several Heights-area schools within Houston ISD will be closed May 21 as the district continues to deal with extended power outages caused by storms that took place May 16 in the Greater Houston area.
Among the closed schools will be Heights High School, which opened briefly May 20 before air conditioning issues prompted officials to close the school.
Catch up
HISD closed 54 campuses May 20, which district officials attributed mainly to power outages at those schools. With temperatures expected to reach 90 degrees in some parts of the city, officials said power—and particularly functioning air conditioning systems—would be a requirement for a school to reopen.
Of the 214 schools that opened May 20, HISD Superintendent Mike Miles said two were closed later that morning after air conditioning systems went down: Heights High School and Reynolds Elementary School.
Miles said he considered the first day back in school since the storm an overall success, applauding the work completed over the weekend to get campuses ready to open. A total of 136 campuses were without power after an initial assessment May 17.
The latest
With power outages ongoing, another 36 schools will remain closed May 21, including several Greater Heights-area schools:
- Black Middle School
- Browning Elementary School
- Field Elementary School
- Harvard Elementary School
- Heights High School
- Hogg Middle School
- Sinclair Elementary School
- Waltrip High School
Digging in
In addition to the two schools that closed because of air conditioning system failures, Miles said there were "a handful" of schools officials had to monitor closely to determine if temperatures had become unsafe. The point at which an "unsafe" temperature is reached varies from school to school, Miles said, adding that the district is generally looking for temperatures to stay in the 70s.
"Even that might be a little too uncomfortable depending on the type of kids you have," Miles said at a May 20 news conference. "We're looking at every school case by case."
Miles said there were some schools in the district where air conditioning units "went in and out." In some schools, temporary coolers were brought in, he said.
In situations where one air conditioning unit goes down, but 80%-90% of a school remains air conditioned, Miles said technicians would be sent out to fix the unit, but students should otherwise remain in school and be moved to other classrooms.
"We’re loathe to say we’re going to close a school just because these four classrooms are too hot," Miles said.
Zooming out
The issue of failing air conditioning units is one Miles said he expects to recur throughout the summer, regardless of storms. Citing "failing air conditioning systems" Miles said he is hopeful the district's state-appointed board of managers will advance a potential bond election for voters to decide on in November.
In the meantime, Miles said the district has brought on 120 more temporary air conditioning units.
"I think we’ll be prepared for August a little bit better than we were last year," he said.
Also of note
Lamar High School was also closed midday May 20 after a gas leak. District officials said the gas leak came from one of the school's chillers, and the odor was spread through the school by the school's HVAC system.
The issue has since been addressed, and Lamar will reopen for classes May 21.
Moving forward
At the May 20 news conference, Miles said he was hopeful that all schools could reopen by Wednesday, though he said some students at Sinclair Elementary School—where portable classrooms were heavily damaged by falling trees—would need to finish out the school year at other nearby schools.
Students who do not attend classes May 20 or May 21 because of issues related to the storm will have their absences excused, Miles said.
The last day of classes for HISD is June 4.
