Snowstorms, power outages, and other natural disasters that warranted numerous days off from school yielded vexatious consequences for Marshfield students this year: sweaty students in cramped, calescent classrooms were forced to learn in torrid temperatures as the school year stretched into late June, with Monday, the 24th designated as the official last day of school for the town.

As most students and teachers probably determined over the past few weeks, Marshfield’s schools have limited air conditioning.

Snowstorms, power outages, and other natural disasters that warranted numerous days off from school yielded vexatious consequences for Marshfield students this year: sweaty students in cramped, calescent classrooms were forced to learn in torrid temperatures as the school year stretched into late June, with Monday, the 24th designated as the official last day of school for the town.

As most students and teachers probably determined over the past few weeks, Marshfield’s schools have limited air conditioning.

According to Superintendent Scott Borstel, air conditioning in the schools is most frequently found in what he refers to as the “core areas,” which typically include main offices, libraries, and nurse’s offices—classrooms, however, are absent from the list. Although it may appear to be an inconsequential issue, studies have shown a lack of air conditioning in classrooms has been proven to have a profound impact on students’ learning experiences.

“It does get hot in our buildings in the middle and end of June, and even in early September,” Superintendent Borstel said in a phone interview, “but they’re older buildings.”

Borstel emphasized that the old ages of the buildings are the main hurdles to improving classroom climates. Robert Keuther, Principal of Marshfield High School, added that MHS has older, less efficient air conditioning units in their English and Social Studies rooms.

Both Borstel and Principal Keuther said the new Marshfield high school would be “climate-controlled”, save for the gym, due to its high ceilings.

“Most schools being built today are climate-controlled,” said Borstel. “But most people aren’t rebuilding schools every decade.”

Until current MHS students begin their studies in Marshfield’s new high school in September 2014, they’ll have to brave humid classrooms during the beginning and end of the upcoming school year. Borstel said the town has never formally conducted any studies to measure effects of hot classrooms on students’ levels of focus and participation, but he knows that lack of climate-control can negatively affect students.

“Temperature definitely can have an impact on learning,” concurred Keuther in an e-mail. “The warmer, less comfortable a classroom, the more difficult it becomes to focus for long periods of time. It also inhibits overall movement or overall activity.”

Laura Parry, a Marshfield resident and parent of two young children in the town’s public school system, agrees with Keuther’s assessments. Growing up in California, Ms. Parry frequently felt listless and fatigued in school during particularly hot times of the year.

“I can say from experience that cooler classrooms are much more conducive to a happy learning environment,” she said in a phone interview. Parry’s son, a Martinson student, frequently arrived home from school “grumpy and tired” on days that were especially humid, she said.

Josie Guarino, who just graduated from MHS, said the school was frequently too hot—or even too cold.

“The classrooms would feel hot, at times worse than others,” she said. “But I think the bigger problem is the poor heating system. In the winter months, we could use blankets in class.”

A recent Opinion piece published on the website of The New York Times, written by New Jersey teacher Sara Mosle, drew a connection between air conditioning and student performance. The article cites lethargy and absenteeism among students as common results of classrooms without air conditioning. Mosle also includes statistics from studies, mentioning “concentration and cognitive abilities decline substantially after a room reaches 77 or 78 degrees.”

For now, Marshfield teachers and administrators have worked together to make conditions bearable for students, Keuther said.

“Teachers adjust their practices or make changes in instruction to keep students engaged,” he said. He cited fans, open windows, and outdoor classes as some of the adjustments teachers frequently make to alleviate the heat. Principal Keuther said that for high school students and teachers, the real change would come with the new climate-controlled high school.

As for the rest of the town’s students, Mosle advocates in her Times piece for providing financial incentives to reward schools that find environmentally-friendly solutions to keep classrooms cool. She also believes tapping the intellect and talent of young, aspiring scientists in the form of a national science fair could yield successful results for this issue.

“It seems obvious: schools need to be cool,” she wrote. “It’s absurd to talk about inculcating 21st century skills in classrooms that resemble 19st-century sweatshops.”

Parents may suggest short-term fixes, such as portable air conditioners, but Borstel insisted that they wouldn’t make much of a difference. Parry suggested town-wide fundraising to pay for some sort of short-term or long-term change.

“As a taxpayer and as a mother who has children in the school system, I’d be willing to pay to see it done,” she said.

To read the Sara Mosle's piece in The New York Times mentioned in this article, visit the following link: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/01/schools-are-not-cool/

Julianne McShane can be reached at jmm10294@aim.com.