San Diego Unified School District leaders are looking for ways to address a backlog of air conditioner maintenance. That’s after students throughout the district sweltered in hot classrooms between mid-August and mid-September.
At a school board meeting Tuesday night, representatives from the district’s maintenance departments said air conditioner problems affected 8% — or about 480 — of the district’s 6,000 classrooms.
“We acknowledge the impacts it had on our students and staff,” said Bryan Ehm, director of the district’s physical plant operations. “We also understand the nexus between clean, safe and well-maintained classrooms and student achievement.”
Ehm said a range of factors contributed to those problems. He said running air conditioners for long periods of time strained aging systems.
“One-third of our district's HVAC systems are either past or nearing their end of their useful life,” he said. “Life cycles range from 10 to 30 years, depending on the systems.”
Ehm said newer, energy-efficient units are more complicated to repair. And supply chain issues are delaying the arrival of needed parts.
John Hensley, the district’s senior executive director of operations, said they can’t keep up with demand for repairs throughout the year.
“Overall, we are completing roughly 83% of HVAC work orders received each year, so our backlog continues to grow,” he said.
Districts across the state are facing the same challenges as the climate warms and budgets are stretched thin.
Hensley said last year’s maintenance budget was $77 million. He said 17% — or about $13 million — of that funds HVAC systems. Ehm told the board they could consider increasing that percentage.
Board president Shana Hazan said that could require cuts in other areas. She said she’d want to make sure “the community is really aware of the choices that we need to make here” as the district begins its next budget process.
Ehm said they’re also reviewing how they manage staff, increasing preventative maintenance and looking for additional grant funding.
On Wednesday, district staff said there were 714 open work orders related to HVAC systems spanning 161 sites. They said 500 of them have had an initial response.
