Classes at Rancho Bernardo High School and Bernardo Heights Middle School will end early Friday due to ongoing problems with the air conditioning system that have left students sweltering in class since they returned to school last week.

Rancho Bernardo High classes will end at 1:15 p.m. and the middle school classes will end at noon.

Poway Unified School District officials said they are trying to come up with a short-term solution for the problems with the aging air conditioning system.

In the meantime, parents have been raising concerns about the learning environment for their children. Despite brief moments of cool air, the system has been out since school began on Aug. 17.

Rancho Bernardo High parent Janna Nelson said she ended up picking up her son early one day earlier in the week because of the heat problem.

“I honestly just can’t believe it,” Nelson said, adding it was 85 degrees in the classrooms. “This is absolutely ridiculous.”

Nelson, whose senior son has autism, said the school brought in fans to help. But the heat creates sensory issues for some of the students like her son, she said.

“The kids are just dripping sweat trying to learn,” Nelson said.

The HVAC system at the high school and middle school is a 32-year-old outdated and unreliable system, Superintendent Marian Kim Phelps wrote in a letter to parents on Thursday. The long-term solution is to replace the entire system, which would cost at least $10 million, she said.

“We attempted to raise money for this and other aging systems in PUSD back in 2020 via Measure P, a bond measure, but were unsuccessful,” Phelps wrote.

Phelps said in the letter that the issue “has been a top priority.”

“We understand these are not ideal conditions for teaching and learning for our students and staff,” she wrote. “While you have received regular updates from your principals, I wanted to assure you that staff and technicians have been working day and night over the past week to try to resolve the problem, but with limited success.”

“During my visits, it was clear that our students and staff were trying to make the best of things with fans on in the classroom and moving outside in the shade, but again, this is not sustainable, nor the experience we want for our schools, staff, or students,” she wrote.

Phelps said there is no quick fix to the problem. The repairs and replacement parts are taking longer than expected, she said.

“As you’re aware, on some days, the AC is working again, other days it stops working when we need it most. To put it simply, the system serving BHMS and RBHS relies on the overnight creation of ice to generate cool air the following day. This method is inefficient to serve both schools and occasionally the system fails to make enough ice to last the day or fails to make any ice altogether.”

Phelps said PUSD leadership is working with the county to apply for an emergency waiver for instructional minutes to consider more minimum days on the hottest days when the air conditioning isn’t working. They also are working to rent a 600-ton chiller in addition to securing more shade tents. Phelps said officials are awaiting an estimate from an outside company to shut down the existing system and repair the compressor and drive line of the existing system.

“In addition to the question of how to secure this funding without a bond measure, a system replacement would also involve major construction at our school sites, which would need to occur without students or staff present.” she wrote. “Therefore, while this solution is being explored for the long term, we are focusing more on realistic short-term solutions that will hopefully bring some relief to our staff and students in the near future.”

When students, teachers and staff returned to Rancho Bernardo High last week, they saw other improvements on campus.

A $14 million renovation included the addition of more than 80 shade trees, several benches and new seating areas to create a park-like atmosphere and outdoor learning areas. Some large boulders have been added for decoration and seating. Artificial turf has been installed in some places and there are now thousands of drought-tolerant plants, said Principal Hans Becker.

The project is part of the district’s Long-Range Facilities Master Plan. The scope of work included the full interior renovation and modernization of 13 classrooms in the “N” Building, site drainage and Americans with Disabilities Act access improvements, fascia and gutter repairs, portable building repairs and exterior campus painting, said Ruben Arras, PUSD’s director of facilities, maintenance and operations.

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Angela Brandt is a staff writer for the Poway News Chieftain and Rancho Bernardo News Journal.

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