Montreal schools without a/c use common sense to deal with heat

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While Quebec Education Bernard Drainville spoke this week of holding year-end exams in the mornings to spare students the worst of this week’s heat wave in the province, a check of local school boards in Montreal on Tuesday found that authorities have long had protocols in place for buildings where air conditioning is either rare or non-existent.

English Montreal School Board spokesperson Mike Cohen said that none of its schools are equipped with air conditioning (although some may possess window units), and that episodes of extreme heat are met with common sense measures that include ensuring staff and students are regularly hydrated, fans are deployed in classrooms and other areas, and the dress code is relaxed to allow lighter clothing to be worn.

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At the Lester B. Pearson School Board, spokesperson Darren Becker noted that in buildings with mechanical ventilation systems, “the practice is to open doors and windows in the early morning so that the cooler air can circulate to start the day. … The majority of classrooms have ceiling or floor fans.”

Like the EMSB, the Lester B. Pearson School Board also urged parents to make sure their children had a water bottle, light clothing and a hat to deal with the heat and to inform their school if they intend to keep their child at home because of extreme weather.

The Centre Service Scolaire de Montréal (CSSM), meanwhile, said in an email to The Gazette that 166 of its 187 schools are fully (72) or partially (94) equipped with ventilation systems and that proper air flow, be it naturally or mechanically occurring, “can often diminish the effects of extreme heat.”

The CSSM added that when necessary, classes are moved outside to mitigate the effects of the heat and that trees and other vegetation had been added to school yards to provide shelter and areas of cool air.

Environment Canada meteorologist Jean-Philippe Begin said parts of southern and central Quebec could expect extreme temperatures this week of between 30 and 35 C, with a humidex of over 40 C.

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Montreal has not yet deployed its emergency protocols for dealing with extreme heat, which are only triggered after three consecutive days of 33 C weather or two straight nights of lows 25 C or above. But city spokesperson Philippe Sabourin said authorities are already taking preventive steps.

Nearly one-third of the city’s outdoor pools have been opened  —  about 25 across the city  —  and more than 180 splash pads for children are operational. Mist stations are also being deployed in known heat islands.

Certain boroughs have also extended hours in public buildings that have air conditioning, he added, such as libraries and cultural and recreational centres.

Sabourin said the majority of Montreal’s outdoor pools usually open in the last week of June, after most schools have closed for the summer.

Gerald Cheng, a Environment Canada meteorologist, said a weather system south of the border is driving the heat, with hot air expected to move eastward, blanketing much of southern Quebec and most of New Brunswick this week.

With additional reporting from The Canadian Press

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