With record-high temperatures hitting Utah cities this week, Utah schools — some without air conditioning — face an extra challenge to keep their students healthy and cool.

West Jordan Middle School principal Theresa Gotay bought Popsicles for the second day in a row for her students Thursday. On Wednesday, which saw a record-breaking high of 99 degrees in Salt Lake City, Gotay started the day by giving water bottles to students and teachers and giving them tips on how to deal with the heat.

"Yeah, we're warm, but we're still healthy, so let's move on," she said. "The students are much more resilient than we give them credit for."

Mike Kelley, spokesman for Jordan School District, said nine out of 53 elementary schools and nine out of 15 middle schools have no air conditioning. All high schools and all year-round schools have air conditioning.

Preparation and common sense can help students survive the heat without too many repercussions.

"On days like this, there are things teachers do, such as take extra water breaks, trips to the drinking fountain," said Jason Olsen, public information officer for the Salt Lake City School District. "There are also fans in the hallways and sometimes classes, and teachers have been trained to watch the kids."

Students in the Salt Lake School District will not finish until June 12, and Olsen said the heat can affect their learning process if it's not properly dealt with.

"Their attention spans tend to be shorter, so teachers are taught to give them extra breaks and get more water."

Health officials gave schools a list of suggestions for dealing with uncomfortably hot buildings. One was to provide frequent fluid breaks, especially before and after exercise in physical education classes or recess.

"We're trying to give them enough breaks so they don't lose their patience, but it isn't all play, it's still school," Gotay said.

Tips for students include wearing loose-fitting, light-colored and lightweight clothing, drinking plenty of cool (not cold) fluids, bringing water bottles to school, eating fruits and vegetables and avoiding caffeine.

Tips for teachers include limiting physical education activities to early hours, allowing students to fan themselves, providing damp cloths that can be dipped in cool water and having an emergency plan for students with individualized health-care needs.

For students who aren't feeling well, Gotay said hydrating can generally fix the problem.

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"We give them bottles of water and have them chill out — literally. Then they can take the bottle like a security blanket and go back to class. The biggest problem is just dehydration, so we make sure they keep fluids in."

Although most high school students are set with air-conditioned classrooms, students at Murray High are bearing the heat. Julie Woodward, Murray City School District spokeswoman, said the old Murray High was not set up for air conditioning this year because officials were not expecting such high temperatures before the school year ended. Students will be starting school Aug. 25 in a new building.

But people planning to attend the Murray High open house Saturday afternoon need not fear. Superintendant Richard Tranter reassured that the district will turn the air on for the event, which was organized to allow the public to say goodbye to the old school and welcome the new.


E-mail: achristensen@desnews.com

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