Cape public schools set record in closing

Dan Steska knew it was going to be hot Thursday, which is why the Cape Girardeau superintendent of schools ordered 1,600 Popsicles for his students in classrooms without air conditioning.

But when the heat index in one Central High School classroom reached 122 degrees by 9 a.m., Steska decided that Popsicles wouldn't be enough. He called off afternoon classes, setting a district record for the latest date school was called for heat. The old record was Sept. 4, 1998.

It also was the first time in the district's history that students were released after Labor Day because of heat.

So, at 11:30 a.m., hundreds of sweat-soaked students flooded out the doors and headed home to enjoy an afternoon in air conditioning. Mark Bowles, assistant superintendent, confirmed the record and said it was simply too uncomfortable for learning.

"Two of our buildings are designed like kilns, and the air just doesn't move around them," he said.

Bowles said the district has tried a number of things to beat the heat, including adding industrial-strength fans to several classrooms, but the heat still made the classrooms unbearable.

Drew Lincoln, a Central Junior High ninth-grader who takes some classes at the oven-like high school, said it is hard to think in the hot classrooms, and the noisy fans only add more distraction.

"We try our best to make it through the day, but it is hard," Lincoln said. "Hopefully, this will be the last heat day in the Cape region forever."

Today's high is expected to reach 87 degrees, but then temperatures should steadily fall over the weekend.

"Tomorrow looks like today," Steska said. "But next week looks good."

Highs next week are expected to top out in the mid-80s with lows dropping into the low 60s by Tuesday and Wednesday.

But no matter what the temperature is outside, next fall when the new Central High School opens and L. J. Schultz School closes, every student in the district will attend classes in air conditioning, leaving some seniors who have had to survive the heat for the past few years disappointed.

"Lucky for them," senior Erin Oberhaus said. "I wish we had an air conditioner now. All we're worried about is it being hot, and all we want to do is cool off."

Steska said students won't have to make up the heat days at the end of the year because not all of the schools in the district let out early.

Elementary schools remained open while L.J. Schultz, Central Junior High, Central High School and the Career Technology Center all closed. Even though the junior high and technical schools are air conditioned, buses transport students from each of those schools at the same time, so those schools were closed as well.

hkronmueller@semissourian.com

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