As students returned to classes at Cleveland High School in Portland, Oregon, on August 27, they walked into a building already hot, and the heat only intensified during the first two weeks of classes, reports Sophie Stauffer in the school’s student newspaper.
Without central air conditioning, the school resorted to rental fans, open windows, and early dismissals to try to keep conditions bearable. On August 29, the district released students early by two hours district-wide because of escalating concerns about indoor heat. In particular, the east wing on the third floor bore the brunt of the heat, making students and staff very uncomfortable and raising health risks.
In one instance, social studies teacher Kieran Lemeune reported that his room hit 87°F on the hottest day. “I went to bed with a headache and woke up the next day and still had a headache,” he said.
Meanwhile, the journalism teacher, Andy Sorensen, described his classroom starting the morning already near 80°F and climbing through the day. By the end of that week, Mr Sorensen believed he might have suffered heat exhaustion from the prolonged stress.
The school’s mitigation efforts centered on portable fans provided by the district. These fans were placed in hallways, intended to push airflow through corridors and adjacent classrooms. Such measures, though imperfect, were crucial to easing the indoor burden when outdoor temperatures remained stubbornly high.
These extreme school conditions reflect broader temperature trends in Portland and the Pacific Northwest. While September in Portland historically features mild days — average highs in the low-to-mid 70s and lows in the low 50s — recent decades have seen a noticeable uptick in warmer days.
The city now averages more than 20 days per year over 90°F, a rise compared to mid-20th century norms of around 17 such days annually.
Portland’s average summer temperatures have climbed about 3.7°F since 1970, pushing heat events into months that once were comfortably warm rather than dangerous.
Such warming increases the risk of heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and other heat-related illnesses, especially in settings lacking adequate cooling infrastructure. Prolonged exposure to high heat can overload internal systems, leading to dizziness, nausea, headaches, fatigue, and in more severe cases, organ strain or heat stroke.
Teachers and students in overheated classrooms may find concentration and stamina slipping. Cognitive function declines in excessive heat, indicated by slower reaction times, loss of working memory, and shorter attention spans, especially in non–air conditioned buildings.
Specifically in classrooms, Education Week cites research that “cognitive function declines during excessive heat,” leading to slower reaction times and greater distraction, and notes that students become “unmotivated and distracted when sitting in a hot classroom.”
EdWeek also reported a study of 10 million high school students on the PSAT: in schools lacking AC, each additional 1°F in average school temperature corresponded to about 1% less learning for the year.
A 2025 study in Archive of Public Health shows that high temperature exposure is significantly associated with lower cognitive function.
Editorial
In light of this, Cleveland High’s longer-term fix must go beyond fans.
The school is scheduled for remodeling next year, which offers an opportunity to install reliable air conditioning systems. But even then, such infrastructure is only a buffer against a changing climate, not a cure.
Science teacher Matthew Staab suggested shifting the school calendar to start after Labor Day, when natural atmospheric cooling typically begins, reducing reliance on mechanical cooling.
As summers get hotter and early fall lingers, schools like Cleveland may have to evolve not only physically, but in scheduling and preparedness, to protect students and staff.