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Q.C. schools try to remedy air conditioning woes
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A fourth-grade classroom at Queen Creek Elementary School has air conditioning now after problems plagued the room for more than a month.
However, a fourth-grade class at Desert Mountain Elementary School in Queen Creek has been without air conditioning since the beginning of the school year, said principal Bill Schultz.
One of Desert Mountain's two air conditioning towers went out at the beginning of the school year. After it was fixed the fourth-grade class' unit still didn't work, Schultz said.
The school is waiting for some ordered parts to come in. Meanwhile, fans are pumping cool air from the hallway into the classroom, Schultz said.
The news is better at Queen Creek Elementary. As of Friday morning, the air conditioning issue had been fixed, said Candy Cooley, the director of facilities planning for the Queen Creek Unified School District.
The problem stemmed from a new unit that arrived a month ago with incorrect installation parts. The correct parts were on back order, Cooley said.
"Two weeks ago, we rented an air conditioning unit to help cool the room," Cooley said. "It was one of those things that was a perfect storm."
Before the rented unit was put in, the room "had some air movement, it just wasn't cool," she said.
Each of the rooms has its own unit, Cooley said.
Several parents complained about the hot conditions and wondered how long it would take to fix.
Queen Creek Elementary opened 18 years ago and is the district's oldest elementary school.
"We have air conditioning issues every summer, as does every district," Cooley said. "These problems were no different than last year."
Queen Creek High School students and staff also dealt with air conditioning problems at the beginning of the 2007-08 school year.
And, Queen Creek High had some problems Friday afternoon after a construction contractor cut through an electrical line, cutting power to two of the school's buildings, said Sandi Cummard, the principal's secretary.
The power went out after students had already left for the day and was fixed by Sunday, Cummard said.
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