As temperatures in Ipswich dip into single digits, students at Ipswich High are piling on layers each morning. Some wrap themselves in blankets in Marine and Coastal class, while others pile in front of the heater in the small hallway across from the lower B-pod teachers room, lovingly nicknamed, “the crevice.” Space heaters are being brought in from home, pipes are freezing, and teachers and students are getting fed up.
What is happening at IHS is not only uncomfortable, but also illegal. According to the Massachusetts Department of Education, “Room temperatures in rooms occupied by students shall be maintained at not less than sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit at zero Fahrenheit outside.”
According to junior Emma Eliot, this has not been the case as of late. “One time,” she tells a friend, “it was literally 45 degrees in Mr. Poranski’s room.” Emma is not the only one to notice the freezing temperatures in the science rooms. Certain classes have become notorious for their sub-50 temperatures. As uncomfortable as it may be, our priority as a learning community is learning itself. So how does this translate? According to an article released by Screenflex, these cold temperatures can lower test scores, decrease memory ability, and cause a lack of energy and a loss of focus. According to a study by the National Institutes of Health, “Students’ cognitive performance peaked at 23°C and declined with 48% at a higher temperature of 30°C, and with 29% at a lower temperature of 16°C.” This does not only apply in a learning environment far from our own- students are experiencing difficulties learning, but teachers are experiencing the same, very human struggles. How are students meant to learn if their teachers cannot teach to their full potential?
Even the school police officer recognizes the danger in allowing our heating to continue on as it has. When asked how he felt about our current station, he observed that a change would make the student population “more consistently comfortable.” This lack of comfort can also lead to a decrease in school attendance and a related increase in illness. Massachusetts legislators and Web MD both acknowledge the harm in staying in cold temperatures for extended periods of time. Not only can cold stress cause students to lose focus and learning capacity, but it can also lead to an increased propensity towards various illnesses.
Students and teachers alike are stuck, shivering in freezing cold rooms as we put another bandaid on the bullet hole with an ineffective space heater. Their cognitive capacities are diminished alongside their ability to handle illness.
Do we really need to get thicker skin? Or does the school need to change something? Students are not being set up for success. As a new year begins, it’s time we start thinking about how to better the temperature concerns we are facing as a school. It’s time to set each other up for success.
