Frigid Halls

Why OCHS is unbearably cold, and what’s being done to fix it

On any given day, students will often be seen walking into Osage City High School wearing sweaters, jackets, and long pants, and perhaps even carrying blankets.  This seems to be a strange sight considering that its only early September.  Fall has yet to arrive, and temperatures still remain pretty consistently above 80 degrees.  But within the walls of OCHS, it’s an entirely different situation.

Students and teachers dress in layer upon layer in their vain attempts to resist the cold temperatures in OCHS. And despite endless complaints about how absurdly cold the building is, there is no improvement in the temperature.  The air conditioning continues to run constantly, regardless of how much staff members tinker with their thermostats.  Now, this is not a new problem.  Even last year the school was an unpleasant temperature, but this year the extremity of it has increased tenfold. However, don’t be alarmed because the predicament is due to be corrected soon.  In fact, the reason why it is so much colder this year is because it is in the process of being fixed.

“A computer runs our (heating and cooling) system, for energy reasons,” noted Mr. Tony Heward, the high school principal. This means it is set to turn off or on at certain times in order to save money for the district.  However, the software program that OCHS was using became outdated last year.  This summer, they began work on updating it.  Unfortunately though, the district discovered that in order to operate the new system, they would have to replace the current wiring because it was not compatible with the updated program.  Everything was supposed to be up to date and ready to go by the time school started, but the company who was going to be replacing the wiring and checking the software did not come until later than expected.  They are still in the process of finishing the task, so the new software isn’t actually up and running yet.  In fact, there is nothing controlling the high school thermostat right now.  Because of that, the air conditioning only has the option of being completely off, or on full blast, which leads to yet another problem; expense.  “I’m sure its costing us more than if the thermostats were working, but we couldn’t have school without A/C,” expressed Heward when asked about the matter.

So at first, having the cooling system at full capacity may sound awfully expensive and unnecessary, but with outside temperatures still in the 80s and 90s, it’s the best option available until the new software system is functioning.  Sadly, that means that students and staff will have to suffer in the bitter cold for a few more weeks, but soon OCHS will be back to a more pleasant temperature.