PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Public Schools will release students three hours early on Friday as rare September triple-digit temperatures are expected for a second day in a row.
The district announced Thursday evening that schools without air conditioning will release students and staff three hours early on Friday due to anticipated high temperatures.
Schools with air conditioning will run on a normal schedule. All afternoon activities in non-air-conditioned buildings are canceled, starting Friday, according to the district.
The district also mentioned that athletics programming will follow OSAA guidelines regarding practice and activities. Any students taking the bus attending a non-air-conditioned school are asked to arrive at their stops three hours earlier.
Early released times will differ depending on grade level at non-air-conditioned schools:
- Elementary school: 11:30 a.m.
- K-8: 12:30 p.m.
- Middle school: 1:00 p.m.
- High school: 12:30 p.m.
Only 15 of PPS's 81 schools have air conditioning. The district had said it's running the ventilation systems in the remaining buildings from midnight to 6 a.m. to circulate cool air, and it's setting up portable fans and having custodians open the windows in the mornings.
Each school is equipped with a digital monitor to track the exact heat index of the building, and principals have been directed to implement steps, such as water breaks, for students if temperatures hit certain thresholds, PPS said.
Here's a list of PPS schools with AC:
- Benson HS
- Clarendon Head Start
- Faubion School
- Forest Park ES
- Franklin HS
- Grant HS
- Harriet Tubman MS
- hayu alqi uyxat (the Multiple Pathways to Graduation building)
- Holiday Center
- Kellogg MS
- Lincoln HS
- McDaniel HS
- Roosevelt HS
- Rosa Parks ES
- Wilcox
Other school districts are also planning on releasing students early. Estacada School District will let students out two hours early on Friday. Lake Oswego announced it will close all elementary schools, except River Grove, at 1:15 p.m., and Lake Oswego Middle School students will be dismissed at 1:25 p.m. on Friday. North Clackamas and Oregon Trail school districts announced they were closing school altogether.