The districts are preparing to ask for up to $100 million to repair HVAC systems that struggle in extreme weather, a pitch that could take on a higher profile after schools’ temperature control struggles were thrown into stark relief during this week’s heat wave and another extreme heat wave in July.
Thousands of students in the Portland, Parkrose and David Douglas school districts were let out of school early or had classes canceled outright this week because classrooms in their aging buildings were so hot.
Meanwhile, most suburban school districts in Washington and Clackamas counties — with some notable exceptions, including in the North Clackamas, Oregon Trail and Estacada school districts — held classes in their modernized buildings without widespread disruption, despite outside temperatures that reached or neared triple digits.
Similarly, in July school summer programming was paused in the Portland area due to lack of air conditioning as temperatures soared above 100 degrees. Portland Public Schools, the Reynolds School District and several others canceled summer programming for several days due to high heat. Seventeen people died due to heat across the state, including 11 in the Portland area. Most of those who died were elderly men who died at home and did not have an air conditioner or other cooling equipment.
It’s not the first time the districts have asked for clean energy funding. Portland, Centennial, David Douglas, Reynolds and Parkrose, plus the Multnomah Education Service District, got $50 million over five years from the Portland Clean Energy Fund’s climate investment plan. That money was intended to improve buildings and transportation at seven school districts, including Riverdale. Most of the associated projects are not yet underway.
But the districts say that’s not enough.
“The scope of needed work in our schools far exceeds the initial PCEF grant,” the six districts wrote in a joint letter supporting their second funding request. “Unfortunately, even school districts that have passed bonds in recent years have had to scale their projects, often focusing on only the most pressing needs, in order to put forward a package that voters would approve. This leaves us looking to other partners to help us make the necessary investments.”
Lacking updated HVAC systems, school districts said they scrambled this week to keep classrooms cool enough to just make it through the day amid the record-setting September heat wave. Even in some newer schools, air conditioning systems weren’t working properly, teachers told The Oregonian/OregonLive, forcing stopgap efforts like moving classes into alternate spaces.
Cypress Williams, whose son is in fourth grade at Abernethy Elementary School in Southeast Portland, said Friday’s heat-related early release from school and canceled after-care frustrated her as a working parent without air conditioning at home or at work.
“We want our economy to be great, and we want our kids to learn and be supported, so what are we doing here? I don’t get it,” Williams said. “We need to do something different. When the buildings are not equipped properly, when there is no AC and they haven’t been updated, it’s just embarrassing and frustrating.”
If the request to the city’s clean energy fund is approved, work on smaller-scope projects could begin next spring, while bigger efforts would likely start in 2026, school district officials said. If approved, Portland Public Schools would get $36 million, David Douglas would receive $25 million and the other districts would get between $7 and $12 million.
Each district said they’d use their share of the funding in different ways:
- The Centennial School District said it would replace HVAC units at Oliver Middle School and Parkland Elementary and expand the work at Powell Butte and Patrick Lynch elementaries if possible.
- David Douglas said it would use any funds to upgrade HVAC systems at Gilbert Park, Lincoln Park, Earl Boyles and Gilbert Heights elementary schools.
- Parkrose leases several buildings to the Multnomah Education Service District, which are used for alternative education programs for students with complex needs. The two districts say they’d seek to replace outdated equipment with geothermal systems to electrify heating and cooling.
- Reynolds said it would target its work at Alder, Glenfair and Margaret Scott elementary schools.
- Portland Public Schools officials said they’d put funds into a green schoolyards program, to add trees, native plants and outdoor learning spaces at seven schools. But they did not specify which ones. They also plan to replace outdated HVAC systems at two schools and install electric heat pumps and new windows, but they again did not specify which campuses.
This week, the city of Portland’s clean energy fund advisory committee recommended 71 organizations receive nearly $92 million in grants as part of its latest round of funding. The projects include energy retrofits to single-family, multifamily and commercial properties, gardening and regenerative agriculture projects, workforce development initiatives that will train existing and new workers in green technologies and projects that promote walking, biking and electric vehicle use. The Portland City Council is slated to vote on the spending package Wednesday.
The recommendations do not include the six school districts’ HVAC requests because the districts have yet to officially apply for the funding.
Clean energy fund spokesperson Elizabeth Stover said the request from the schools consortium is one of ten that have been invited to submit a full application this fall, for further consideration in the next funding opportunity. She said $158 million in clean energy funds will be available at that time for high-impact, multi-stakeholder projects and funding decisions will be made later in the fall or winter.
The Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, seeded by a 1% tax on large retailers in the city, is intended to bankroll projects that aim to reduce carbon emissions, create jobs and help vulnerable residents who face the most severe impacts from climate change. Over the past year, as the fund has seen its revenue projections balloon, it has spurred a money grab, with city leaders swooping in to claim portions of the windfall to plug general budget holes.
©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
