Heat shuts down schools in the Northeast, Detroit and Cleveland

Labor Day may be the unofficial end to summer, but heatwaves across the Midwest and Northeast are shortening school days or canceling classes altogether.

School days were shortened in many western Connecticut cities as temperatures there were expected to be in the low 90s with heat index values ​​in the mid and high 90s.

“Today, it reached 88 degrees in some of our buildings with no students,” Chris Melillo, superintendent of Newtown Schools, wrote to parents on Labor Day. “All Newtown Public Schools will have early class for three hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays this week.”

The Newtown Parks and Recreation Department is also closing its sports fields until 5:30 p.m. through Thursdays.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has activated an “Extreme Hot Weather Protocol” in the state.

“We may have thought the hot summer temperatures were over for the season, but it looks like we’re in for another heat wave this week,” Lamont said in a statement.

Schools in Danbury and Portland, Connecticut, also closed early.

The average temperature at this time of year in Danbury is in the high 70’s.

Schools also closed early in many New Jersey cities, as well as Philadelphia.

In Metuchen, New Jersey, which is under a heat warning, schools dismissed early, and parents were told there could be additional early dismissals or cancellations depending on the weather. Highs were expected to be in the mid-90s with heat index values ​​reaching 100 degrees this week, well above average in the low 80s.

Classes were canceled entirely on Tuesday at public schools in Southfield, Michigan, near Detroit, where the temperature index is expected to reach 95 degrees. Evening activities have also been cancelled. The average temperature at this time of year in Detroit is 83 degrees.

Students in Parma, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland, got an extra day of summer vacation with temperatures and heat index values ​​expected to be in the low 90s. The Parma City School District canceled the first day of school due to the “unbearably high temperatures”.

In Oak Park, Illinois, outside of Chicago, school was in session, but students were moved to parts of their school buildings with air conditioning. The district also said it would use portable air conditioners. Temperatures there are expected to reach nearly 90 degrees on Tuesday.

The district encouraged parents to send their children to school with a full reusable water bottle and to dress them in light-coloured, loose-fitting clothes.

Many school districts in the Midwest and Northeast do not have any air conditioning at all. A heat index of 90 degrees or higher can pose a “significant health risk” to children, including heatstroke, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Several school districts closed or changed their schedule last month when triple-digit heat indexes blanketed parts of the upper Midwest, including Minneapolis and Chicago.

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