CCSD may vote on $5M plan to fix A/C issues that left classrooms overheated

The Clark County School Board could vote on a proposal to pay more than $5 million to repair its heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, a move the school district hopes will help avoid the overheated classrooms of last summer.

Thirty-seven schools operate with HVAC systems beyond their expected lifespan, according to the presentation in Thursday’s School Board agenda items. That makes several classrooms “unusable” and leads to lost instruction time, the presentation said.

“Due to excessive heat and overtaxed equipment, numerous HVAC systems were pushed beyond their performance limits, resulting in performance failures,” according to the presentation from Brandon McLaughlin, assistant superintendent of the construction and development division, and Stephen Molina, coordinator IV of the department.

The total cost of the project is nearly $5.2 million and will be completed throughout this summer. It follows last summer’s record-breaking heat and widespread issues with the air conditioning at schools.

In August 2024, U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., called for solutions to the extreme heat affecting students.

“If you don’t recognize extreme heat is something that impacts education, then you’re not going to be worried about doing anything about it,” Titus said. “Then air conditioning getting fixed gets pushed down the list.”

At the time, National Education Association of Southern Nevada President Vicki Kreidel said broken air conditioning was a widespread issue across the Clark County School District.

“Any educator can tell you that students are more distracted when they’re uncomfortable,” Kreidel said.

“Not addressing what’s happening and how it will affect our schools is a recipe for disaster.”

Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X and @katiefutterman.bsky.social. Review-Journal staff writer Alan Halaly contributed to this report.