California pulls plug on air conditioning upgrades in schools, leaving students to sweat it out

California decision-makers haven’t kept their promise to keep it cool in schools.Despite a 2020 program, CalSHAPE, that provided utility ratepayer funding to let state schools evaluate their air conditioning and then use the funds to pay for upgrades, many of the schools never got them.The California Energy Commission cut the program short by 2 years in 2024, leaving just 172 of more than 4,500 schools that needed upgrades to their heating and cooling systems with funding to improve their systems.Schools are upset that lawmakers aren’t making it a priority to prevent students from sweating in the California heat.“There are periods of the school year where it’s pretty much baking all day long, and some of the older units can’t keep up,” Greg Page, energy management specialist for the Temecula Valley Unified School District, told CalMatters.“Our team is working by emergency pretty much nonstop during those hot times.”The district received $4.6 million in funds during phase 1 of the energy commission’s program, the evaluation stage, and managed to survey 30 schools in the district for upgrades.

Temecula Valley managed to even apply some upgrades early with the money, fixing some HVAC systems and replacing some air filters and thermostats.California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.

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Never miss a story But the district wasn’t able to replace around a third of its aging heating and cooling systems across the district because they were unable to apply for phase 2 funds.Another district, Torrance Unified School District, wasn’t able to replace critical cooling systems after identifying 300 air conditioning units beyond use.They also missed the window to apply.“This was money that was pulled back unjustifiably,” Keith Butler, deputy superintendent of Torranc...