Parents in Oakland say rising temperatures inside classrooms are making it harder for students to learn, so they’re taking matters into their own hands. The parent teacher association at Sequoia Elementary School raised $6,000 on their own to cool classrooms. “In a perfect world, the distr ict would take action,” Sequoia Elementary parent Rachael Kirk-Cortez said. “What we understand is they have $8 million available now.” Using low-cost materials, dozens of volunteers installed UV-reflective window film, portable air conditioning units and improvised ventilation systems last fall. “For this heat wave, when it’s 85 degrees outside, the average temperature in our classrooms is 76 degrees,” Kirk-Cortez said. “Previously we had classrooms that would’ve been five and even 10 degrees hotter than outdoors.” Parents also launched a website tracking schools in need and proposing fixes. They are now urging the district to use unspent Measure Y funds, a $735 million bond passed in 2020. While the district has indicated solutions could take years, parents say their model could be rolled out district-wide for about $6 million and almost immediately. One of the parents, Matthew Kirk-Cortez, is an architect who helped retrofit the classrooms. “These things are not hard to do,” he said. “This doesn’t take a ton of study or capital to do. We don’t need to revamp every HVAC system in Oakland. We need to do small incremental changes that can make big impacts right now.” The district said it’s working to address classroom temperatures and impacts of climate change through long-term planning and current efforts like outdoor campus improvements, fans, purifiers and keeping blinds closed on hot days. In a statement, the district said, “We look forward to using funds from Measure Y dedicated to heat mitigation for that purpose in the coming years.” ...read more read less