Middle school heats up after AC fails

A broken air conditioning unit at Von Tobel Middle School has prompted school officials to provide bottled water to students, install portable air conditioners such as "swamp coolers" and rotate classes to cooler parts of the building.

Problems with the unit have been ongoing since school started three weeks ago. The kitchen was 95 degrees when a health inspector visited on Tuesday. One teacher was so light-headed from the heat that she had to leave school early one day, but the teacher has since returned to work, school officials said.

There were no reports of students feeling sick from the heat, school officials said. The Southern Nevada Health District has not received any complaints about heat or illness, said spokeswoman Stephanie Bethel.

A health inspector who returned to the school at the intersection of Carey Avenue and Pecos Road on Friday found that the air conditioner had been repaired, Bethel said. School officials expect the air conditioning system to be back to normal by Monday.

Principal Roger Gonzalez said repairs were delayed because the Clark County School District had to order some parts to fix the broken unit.

Von Tobel, like many schools in the district, has two air conditioning units, said Michael Rodriguez, a district spokesman.

So if one unit is broken, other parts of the building will still be air-conditioned, he said. In a situation like Von Tobel's, classes can be relocated to cooler places in the building, such as the library or a multipurpose room.

Because it was too hot to cook, the school served cold sandwiches and other hot lunch alternatives.

In spite of the challenges, Von Tobel has managed to maintain its "A" grade for sanitation as a food establishment, according to the health district.

The school as a whole, however, needs to make some minor repairs within the next 30 days, such as unclogging a toilet and tightening a loose toilet seat, fixing a broken hinge for a library cabinet and providing hot water for the boys locker room and thermometers for the ice cream freezer and snack bar.

The new school year started Aug. 24. Because the school's air conditioning system is never completely turned on during the summer, the problem went undetected until classes resumed, Rodriguez said.

The situation is not so unusual since there are always kinks at the beginning of the school year, he said. The district does not have the money to fully test air conditioning systems for weeks at a time before school starts.

Von Tobel originally opened in 1968. According to a district facilities report, Von Tobel needs about $3 million in renovation and modernization upgrades.

Von Tobel serves a student population that is 81 percent Hispanic and 77 percent are eligible for free and reduced lunch. About 41 percent of the students are limited English speakers.

One parent waiting to pick up his daughter Friday said he was unaware of the air conditioning situation.

"I haven't heard a word about it," said Robert Carleton, the father of 12-year-old Shyla, a seventh-grader.

Shyla, though, knew better.

"Hot? Yeah, it's been hot," she said.

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug@reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.