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PSD superintendent outlines heat actions, AC installation plan and calendar review
Summary
Superintendent Kingsley told the Board of Education that 32 district schools lack air conditioning, the district has used heat protocols and early releases, and mill-levy funds will fund multi-year AC installations. He also flagged recent staff arrests and a student injury as safety concerns.
Superintendent Kingsley told the Poudre School District R-1 Board of Education on Aug. 26 that the district is responding to repeated extreme heat days with protocols, temporary mitigation and a multi-year plan to install permanent air conditioning in schools that lack it.
Kingsley said the district has 32 schools that do not yet have air conditioning and that short-term steps ("swamp coolers and other temporary heat mitigation measures") cannot match prolonged high temperatures. "Guided by our district's heat protocols, we determined early release was necessary to protect the health and the safety of our students and our staff," Kingsley said.
The superintendent said the district will use funding from a voter-approved mill levy override to pay for installations and that work has already started: "Thanks to the voter approved $20.24 mill levy override, funding is now in place to do this work and it's already begun with the installation of air conditioning at Beatty and O'Day Elementary School this summer." He explained installation must be phased because many older buildings require significant upgrades and most construction can only be done during short summer windows.
Kingsley also discussed why the district calendar starts in August and will not change immediately, citing state instructional-minute reporting and the need to align concurrent enrollment, Advanced Placement and IB exam schedules. He said an internal action team is studying instructional-minute compliance and will report to the board on Oct. 7.
On safety, Kingsley told the board and community that recent events — "the arrest of a former employee on very serious charges, as well as an incident at one of our middle schools that resulted in a student injury" — are being treated as high priorities for district staff and that the district will "act quickly to protect our students, communicate openly when serious incidents occur, and provide support for those who need it." He said the district will continue to review policies, reporting avenues and hiring/vetting practices.
Kingsley closed by highlighting recent assessment results, saying PSD students again outperformed statewide averages on CMAS and college-readiness benchmarks and that updated graduation-rate data will be shared in coming weeks.
Kingsley encouraged patience while the district implements fixes: "It is going to take time, but it really is happening."
