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Parent asks Evergreen Park district to prioritize air conditioning in Northeast Elementary gym after students felt ill during event
Summary
A Northeast Elementary parent told the board May 21 that indoor gym temperatures have reached 88 degrees at school events, and asked trustees to prioritize installing air conditioning to protect student and staff health.
A parent of two first-graders at Northeast Elementary told the Evergreen Park ESD 124 board on May 21 she and other families want the district to prioritize installing air conditioning in the school—s gym, citing a recent event where the thermostat read 88 degrees.
"We are here to request a prioritization of installing an air conditioning in our gym," said Carly Savatieri during public comment. She said the Illinois Department of Public Health recommends indoor school temperatures between 73 and 79 degrees, and that students at the recent event were "visibly sweating" and some reported feeling lightheaded or nauseated.
Savatieri said Northeast serves as a summer-school host and that the gym is used for morning care, aftercare and booster-club events, increasing exposure days for children and volunteers. She provided photos of the thermostat to the board and asked the district to examine whether an existing nearby unit could be extended into the gym.
Board procedures require public comment to be limited and typically are not answered with an immediate board response, the board president noted; he said staff would follow up with the parent. "We'll be following up with you," the board president said.
The comment was offered under the district's public-comment policy; no formal board action on gym cooling was taken at the May 21 meeting.
