New Westminster schools are too hot, lack cooling systems: teachers union

The New Westminster Teachers’ Union says the early season heat wave is making it hot at schools in the city.

This includes New Westminster Secondary School (NWSS). Even though it opened its doors in 2021, the school district says it was built without a cooling system.

President of the New Westminster Teachers’ Union, Kristie Oxley, says the building’s design is making things difficult during this bout of high temperatures.

“It was built with a lot of glass, right? So exterior windows as well as interior walls are all glass. And that has really concentrated the heat coming in. So teachers have been very warm, students in particular very warm, you know, struggling to stay awake a little bit in class. And I have seen some recorded temperatures up to about 30 degrees,” she told CityNews.

She says those high temperatures have also been recorded in portables in the district, including at Skwo:wech Elementary. The district says that the school, which opened last year, doesn’t have a cooling system either.

In a letter sent to families on Thursday, New West Schools says in part “the approved scope of work and funding that was provided by government did not include cooling systems.”

“While each school and each classroom is unique, we know this has been particularly frustrating at both Skwo:wech and NWSS, as our two newest schools,” the letter reads.

“However, given the rapid climate changes we’ve all experienced over the last couple years, we’re optimistic that cooling systems and possible retrofits may be considered and funded by our government partners, where required, as we continue our ongoing conversations with them.”

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But Oxley says students and school staff need relief sooner.

“This extreme weather isn’t going anywhere. And whether or not it was a factor for the builders originally, it definitely needs to be a factor now. We need to be providing something for the students so that they’re not sweltering,” she said.

New Westminster Secondary’s new build was announced in 2016. In a statement, the press secretary for BC United, which was in power as the Liberals at that time, says in part “The $106.5-million project was B.C.’s largest school investment. Given that construction didn’t start until the middle of 2018, the NDP’s second year in government, we can’t speak to any decisions regarding specifics of the final project.”

On Thursday, CityNews asked B.C.’s Education Minister, who decides whether to install cooling systems in schools, about the issue.

“We are dealing with climate change and how the temperatures are changing,” said Rachna Singh.

“We have the air conditioning part of the system like with all the new schools that are being approved and Ministry of Education works very closely with the school districts all across. We have 60 school districts. We work very closely with them looking at the needs that they have.”

New West Schools says it’s trying to beat the heat by purging hot air out of schools overnight, setting up new fans, adjusting airflow intake, and moving some lessons into other areas of the buildings – or even outside. Oxley says she’d like to see the portables and schools retrofitted with A/C.

“It’s a new reality and we need a long-term solution,” Oxley said.