As the Los Angeles Unified School District gears up for the new school year, there’s uncertainty about whether all classrooms will have functioning air conditioning. The district is addressing over 1,000 service requests, including 650 classrooms needing repairs. While such demand is common at this time of year, the issue highlights a broader problem: California does not mandate air conditioning in K-12 classrooms. This is increasingly problematic as climate change intensifies heat waves. Similarly, Long Beach Unified, California’s fourth-largest district, will have thousands of students returning to 556 classrooms across 13 schools without air conditioning.
