Warm weather made air conditioning a hot topic at a Hollister School District special board meeting this week.
Classrooms at two schools—Cerra Vista and Calaveras—are some of the only buildings in the district that do not have air conditioning on warm days, according to background information from the meeting’s agenda packet.
Fixing this issue at the schools has been discussed as an item on the board’s list of priorities for Measure M, a $28.5 million general obligation facilities bond approved by voters in November, but comes with a hefty price of perhaps more than $2 million, according to the packet.
“Ultimately, the Board may need to change the Measure M list of priorities and move air conditioning ahead of other projects if we are to develop and implement alternatives to prevent the rooms from overheating in the future,” explained a statement in the packet.
Trustees did not vote on the topic since it was listed as a discussion item on the agenda.
A total of eight speakers including Pam Little, the principal of Cerra Vista; Cheryl Rios, the Hollister Elementary School Teachers’ Association president; a few teachers; and a few parents spoke, said Jesus Romero, the district’s administrative assistant to the superintendent.
Almost any solution to the problem would require the work of architects and possibly electrical and mechanical engineers, according to packet. The work would likely require structural changes and would need review by the Division of the State Architect, according to the same statement.
In the San Benito High School District—the follow-on district for many Hollister School District students—two wings of classrooms had air conditioning installed this summer after the district used funds fromMeasure G, the district’s $42.5 million general obligation facilities bond approved by voters in June 2014,to install air conditioning in classrooms.
