Sabillasville Elementary is no cool school 

BY JAMES RADA JR.
Thurmont News Editor

THURMONT, Md. – As hot as it was during Frederick County’s recent heat wave, Sabillasville Elementary School was even hotter.

One afternoon during the heat wave, a weather station in a school library display case showed the temperature outside the school as 96 degrees and the temperature inside the school as 100 degrees.

“It can get so oppressively hot in here when kids are trying to learn,” said parent Amy Watson.

The school, built in 1964, has never been renovated and has no central air conditioning. The classrooms, media center and main office have window air conditioners, but other areas, including the nurse’s office and cafetorium, do not.

Though air conditioning is not usually a necessity during spring and fall months, parents and students say that many days the temperatures are uncomfortable.

“My kids come home exhausted,” said Watson. “They don’t want to play. They want to rest in the cool air.”

Her son Jake, 8, has spina bifida and a latex allergy. The allergy requires him to wear long pants and long sleeves to avoid latex contact.

“I don’t feel so good with hot air,” Jake said.

His mother said her son is catheterized. She can tell by his fluid output that the heat dehydrates him.

Sabillasville Elementary is in the Frederick County Board of Education’s capital improvement program for the 2010-2011 school year. Ray Barnes, FCPS executive director of facilities services, said the $188,000 listed would only pay to air condition the cafetorium.

“Central air would be considerably more,” Barnes said.

While Sabillasville has done without air conditioning for 42 years, parents are upset because when the county detention center air conditioning broke down, county commissioners seemed to respond quickly to have it repaired.

Parent John Kempisty wrote in an e-mail to the commissioners, “As a Sabillasville Elementary School parent, I find it ironic that our County is more concerned about temperatures and special needs at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center than at an elementary school serving the most vulnerable of our residents, very young school children…Aren’t elementary school students just as important as jail residents?”

While pointing out that the two issues were unrelated, Frederick County Commissioner Mike Cady said the comparison certainly “got my attention.” He and Commissioner Jan Gardner toured the school with parents and staff on Aug. 2.

Cady suggested that perhaps the board of education could use remaining balances from current capital projects to move up the Sabillasville Elementary air conditioning work.

Barnes said it is a possibility, but the board of education would have to make the decision.

“If there are issues that this would improve the instructional situation, I think the priority would change,” Barnes said.

During the tour, the commissioners experienced first-hand how hot the school can get. Even in the air-conditioned rooms, it was not that cool, but it was noisy.

The school’s maintenance person Jody Miller turns on the air conditioning units at 6 a.m. just so the rooms can begin to cool down by noon. The problem is that some teachers turn the units off because of the noise.

“They will go and turn off the air conditioners for a while if they are giving instructions and then turn it back on when the students are working,” said Principal Karen Locke.

Some children bring water bottles to their classrooms, which teachers allow them to use to stay hydrated. Sometimes, students even remove their shoes to stay cool.

As Samantha Watson, 10, said, “Our teacher let us because she took her shoes off because it was so hot.”