High Heat Forces Salem School To Close On Friday

SALEM, MA — Another day of high heat has forced the closure of Salem's Early Childhood Center on Friday.

Superintendent Steve Zrike said on Thursday afternoon that the lack of air conditioning in the classrooms, the young age of the learners and the number of medically fragile students, led to the decision to close with temperatures expected to soar into the 90s once again.

The staff at the ECC will have a professional day in an air-conditioned space, according to Zrike.

All other Salem schools were to be open as of Thursday afternoon with students and staff advised to wear clothes to help them remain cool and stay hydrated with water bottle-filling stations in each school.

"It has been a very hot week in the Salem Public Schools or anywhere in Massachusetts and many parts around the country," Zrike said. "We are doing our very best to make school as comfortable as possible for staff and students. We know that while we have air conditioning in all of our schools except for the Bentley ECC building — Bentley has units in their classrooms; the ECC doesn't.

"But every school has air conditioning. We know it's uneven and inconsistent in places. But the only places where we have seen, thus far, the temperatures at really high levels is at the ECC. In other places, there may be pockets of hot rooms and we've tried to make adjustments where there are uncomfortable places to move students, move classrooms, where possible, because every school does have pockets (of AC that works) better than others."

Zrike said the schools are letting the air conditioning run overnight to attempt to keep the rooms as cool as possible.

"It is not our intention to adjust the school day (Friday) at all (at other schools)," Zrike said. "We plan to have a full school day for everyone else. We appreciate everybody's flexibility. I know it's uncomfortable. I know parents will have to, if you are concerned about your child's well-being you'll have to make decisions that you think are best for your child and consult with your doctor and/or the nurse at your child's school.

"But, at this point, we want to continue the momentum and the routines that we are establishing for the start of the school year and we think that not having school, the drawback is worse is not to have school for (Friday) as we look to get off to a strong start."

The last day of school for the Early Childhood Center moves forward a day to June 14, 2024.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)