SerpApi.Org
With 90 degree days here to stay, many Denver kids may just be feeling relieved that they're not learning in the heat.
Denver Public Schools has been working throughout the years to install AC in schools but there's still more than 20 currently without it. So the district is using the summer months to get the cool air in for more children.
When it's hot outside, most people will do anything to stay in. Unless inside happens to be just as steamy.
"It is extremely hot, but you gotta stay hydrated and it's good," said Trent Richardson, Jcor Mechanical Project Manager.
Richardson and the Jcor Mechanical team are toughing out the July heat inside Asbury Elementary. As soon as students leave for the summer, Richardson and the guys head in, working to install air conditioning in the building.
"It's difficult to try to dodge and duck existing conditions and still make the school look good," Richardson said.
Work that's made a little worse by the heat.
"That is an understatement, yes," said Heather Bock, DPS' Director of Construction with planning, design and construction.
Bock said that heat is exactly the learning environment they don't want for kids.
"Standing in this room right now, it's probably about 82 degrees. So without air conditioning, that is the temperature that our students would be in on a day like today," Bock said. "Once we have our air conditioning in place, we can bring our temperatures down."
Work to cool off Asbury Elementary started last year. It's one of nine DPS schools getting AC installed over the summer.
Bock said three schools will be done by the start of school in August. The other six will wrap up in the fall.
That will leave 12 schools left without AC.
Heat mitigation methods help keep those classrooms as cool as they can until they can get the work done on the final dozen schools to change that.
"Our goal is to have all of the buildings having air conditioning. With this past bond we were able to get the funding so that we can actually do a full air conditioning project where in the past we haven't been able to fulfill that," Bock said.
Voters in 2024 approved a $975 million bond for learning and technology improvements, including funding for the final few dozen schools to get air conditioning installed. But that work will take years.
Until then, Richardson and his team don long layers and sweat it out in schools.
"We take breaks when we need. We stay hydrated when we need," Richardson said about the heat. He said he's happy knowing their hard work will create a better learning environment for Denver students.
"It's extremely fulfilling knowing that we are bringing in AC and cooling into a school for children," Richardson said.
Work on Asbury will be done in August, just in time to welcome students back for the start of the new school year.
Other schools that will have air conditioning by the fall of 2026 are Cory, Johnson, McMeen, Skinner, Webster, Knight, Park Hill and Traylor.
Construction on Brown, Bradley, Edison, Hamilton and Steck will start this year and end in 2027. According to DPS, the remaining schools that will get air conditioning installed in 2027 and 2028 include Pioneer, Gilpin, Goldrick, Gust, Crofton, Godsman, Montclaire, Teller, Barrett, University Park, Whiteman, Lincoln ES and Slavens.
