STUDENTS SWELTER IN HEAT.Byline: Jenifer Hanrahan Daily News Staff Writer The fourth- and fifth-grade students in Room 15 at Calvert Street Elementary School elementary school: see school. know precisely how hot it gets in their classroom with no air conditioning air conditioning, mechanical process for controlling the humidity, temperature, cleanliness, and circulation of air in buildings and rooms. Indoor air is conditioned and regulated to maintain the temperature-humidity ratio that is most comfortable and healthful. . They've seen the temperature start out at a comfortable, if warm, 80 degrees. Then the classroom thermometer began its relentless climb - hitting 92 degrees by noon Wednesday. ``But it feels like 1,000 degrees,'' said Shirley Goldfarb, 9, a third-grader whose class is - gasp - next to the boiler room boiler room n. a telephone bank operation in which fast-talking telemarketers or campaigners attempt to sell stock, services, goods, or candidates and act as if they are calling from an established company or brokerage. . As temperatures in Woodland Hills passed the 100-degree mark by midafternoon, Calvert Principal Shelley Rivlin-Hollis saw a ray of hope in the visit Tuesday of a contractor making plans to install air conditioning by fall. ``It's just intolerable,'' she said. ``The kids are lethargic. It's difficult for the kids to really focus.'' In the second day of an expected six-day heat wave that settled unmercifully over Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , kids and teachers at 120 San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. schools without air conditioning like Calvert suffered through what they hope is their last bout of hot weather. Across the city Wednesday, residents cranked up their air conditioners, pulled out their fans and swigged bottled water as the mercury rose again. It was 93 degrees Wednesday at the downtown Civic Center; the normal temperature this time of year is about 75 degrees, said Vladamir Ryshko, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service. Temperatures forecast for today in the Woodland Hills area will hit 102, with Van Nuys at 97 and Burbank at 95 degrees. The heat wave is the result of a dome of high pressure over the southwestern United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Warm winds from the high desert blowing west toward the Pacific Ocean, a blazing sun and a virtually cloudless sky send the mercury soaring. But relief is in store for local schools. The Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Unified School District's Proposition BB, passed by voters in April, authorizes the sale of $2.4 billion in bonds for school repairs and construction. About $800 million of that has been earmarked for specific school projects - including air-conditioning 300 schools. School district and state officials are working to get all schools air-conditioned within 18 months, much sooner than the original estimate of three to five years. A consortium of Southern California energy companies will meet with state officials today in Sacramento in a continuing push to speed up the approval process, said Steven Soboroff, chairman of the Blue Ribbon blue ribbon denotes highest honor. [Western Folklore: Brewer Dictionary, 127] See : Prize Citizens Oversight committee, which oversees the spending of the Proposition BB funds. The soaring temperatures are bad news for 6-year-old Calvert student Doug Frost Doug Frost (born on November 11, 1943 in Orange, New South Wales) is an Australian swimming coach, perhaps best known as the coach of Ian Thorpe. He has been made an "Honor of Life Member" of the Australian Swim Coaches Association and of the Padstow Swim Club, New South Wales. . Doug's sweaty face kept his eyeglasses eyeglasses or spectacles, instrument or device for aiding and correcting defective sight. Eyeglasses usually consist of a pair of lenses mounted in a frame to hold them in position before the eyes. slipping down his nose, and his perspiration made his hearing aid short out. ``It goes on and off,'' he said. Meanwhile, 11-year-old Jesse Gomez, a fifth-grade ``play leader'' assigned to watch the younger students during recess, said his job just got tougher. ``It's so hard,'' Jesse said. ``I have to stay in the sun all day, and there's only one water faucet out there.' Rivlin-Hollis said she'll let the kids out early if the heat wave continues. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--Color) Stephanie Quinn, 9, tries to ignore the heat in her classroom at Calvert Street Elementary in Woodland Hills. (2) Casey Willmon, 6, feels the 90-plus-degree heat at Calvert, which opened in 1956 but has never had air conditioning. Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News |
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