JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Parents and students are raising concerns about Jacksonville school A/C failures after air-conditioning problems were reported at several Duval County schools just as Northeast Florida deals with another stretch of dangerous August heat.
The complaints range from uncomfortable classrooms to a malfunction at Crown Point Elementary School that sent smoke into the building Wednesday morning and forced about 20 students who had already arrived to be relocated to Mandarin Middle School.
According to News4JAX’s reporting on the A/C problems, the smoke came from a malfunctioning air-handler motor. Duval County Public Schools said there was no fire.
But Crown Point is not the only campus where families have reported trouble.
News4JAX said parents contacted the station about air-conditioning problems at Stanton College Prep, Westview K-8 and Riverside High School as well.
At Crown Point, one parent said her fourth-grade son had been dealing with the lack of air conditioning since the first day of school. The parent also said her son has asthma and had been breathing more heavily while dealing with the heat.
Another parent, Shavon Good, questioned how students are supposed to focus under those conditions.
“How are they supposed to concentrate when they’re worried about sweating and being hot?” Good told News4JAX.
Some school A/C problems fixed, others still being addressed
The district told News4JAX that the situation was different at each affected school.
At Westview K-8, a chiller malfunction reportedly knocked out air conditioning in several classrooms Monday. District maintenance crews said the problem was resolved that afternoon.
At Riverside High School, the district blamed an electrical issue and said the school’s A/C units were back online and operating normally. A chiller in the affected building had also been replaced during the summer.
The situation at Stanton College Prep was less settled when the report was published. Families were told that maintenance crews would inspect and address problems involving the school’s chillers.
Crown Point, meanwhile, was inspected by district maintenance teams and an outside vendor following Wednesday’s air-handler malfunction. DCPS said repairs were completed and the campus was determined to be safe to reopen Friday.
The problems come at a particularly uncomfortable time for students.
The National Weather Service in Jacksonville has a Heat Advisory in effect for parts of Northeast Florida from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, with heat-index values expected to reach as high as 109 degrees.
The advisory includes portions of Duval County and specifically lists Jacksonville among the affected areas. The National Weather Service warns that high heat and humidity can increase the risk of heat-related illness and recommends spending time in air-conditioned spaces when possible.
That makes working air conditioning inside schools more than a comfort issue for families sending children back to classrooms in August.
Parents want to know what happens next
The immediate repairs may solve individual outages, but parents are also looking for answers about whether the district can prevent repeated A/C problems across its campuses.
When News4JAX asked DCPS Deputy Superintendent Corey Wright about the district’s long-term approach, Wright said a plan exists but that he did not have the specific details. He said the district’s priority is providing students with an appropriate learning environment, including functioning air conditioning.
For families, the concern is what happens when that system fails during the hottest part of the school year.
The next test comes Friday. Crown Point is expected to reopen normally, while the Heat Advisory will put Jacksonville back under potentially dangerous temperatures.
Parents at Stanton and other campuses with reported cooling problems will also be watching to see whether the repairs hold — and whether students can get through the school day without having to sweat through class.
