Spotted lanternflies force Pittsburgh Public School with no air conditioning to keep windows shut amid extreme heat
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Into the second week of school for the school year, some students within the Pittsburgh Public School District are already learning remotely due to extreme heat.
On Monday, the district announced it's activating its "extreme heat protocol," transitioning students and staff at 38 facilities to remote learning.
One of those schools includes Greenfield on Alger Street.
A parent whose two students attend Greenfield told KDKA the building has no air conditioning, and to add to the problem, he said they can't open the windows.
"The school doesn't have air conditioning, which happens, you know, many of the buildings don't, but because of the lanternflies, the kids are complaining that the windows can't be opened," the parent said.
He said he has two elementary students who go to Greenfield who have been complaining about the high temperatures inside.
"We have a very clear problem here, and it just feels like nothing's being done," he said.
He said he's contacted the district in hopes of finding a solution and even came up with a few ideas of his own to open the windows.
"We could just get a roll of screen and tape it over. There's probably miles of screen at a PPS warehouse somewhere," the parent said.
He said so far, no one from upper management has gotten back to him.
He said his kids are set to return to the classroom tomorrow and that he and other parents have concerns about their health and safety.
"It's not the principal's fault. It's not the teachers' fault. There's a lot of higher-ups that are paid a lot of money to foresee problems, address problems as they come up, find solutions, and we're in one of those situations and just reaching out to get some action," he said.
PPS released a statement to KDKA-TV Wednesday evening, saying the following:
Our facilities team sprayed the outside of the building on Saturday with our typical insect treatment spray to help with the lantern fly issue, which is largely impacting the back of the building. This process was effective and staff should be able to open windows. Our maintenance team continues to monitor the situation and will continue treatment as necessary.