OJAI : School to Get Air Conditioning

Sweltering students at Nordhoff High School will find relief soon after Ojai Unified School trustees awarded a $59,985-contract to B&D; Refrigeration of Santa Paula to install air conditioners in 12 classrooms.

Temperatures soared above 90 degrees this week in the uninsulated, flat-roofed, 800-square-foot rooms in one wing of the high school, built in 1957. “Temperatures go up and learning goes down,” Asst. Supt. Leo Molitor said.

Thirty students are assigned to the boxlike classrooms, which have windows on only one side, Molitor said. He called them the worst-ventilated rooms in the school district, which lacks air conditioning in about 75% of its classrooms.

Teachers and parents have identified the air conditioners as a district priority, estimated to cost more than $500,000 over a five-year span for the district. Installation of the combination air-conditioning/gas-heating units at Nordhoff was delayed nearly a year, and costs increased about 30% because of required state architect approval and on-site inspections, Molitor said.

Money for the project, which was approved Tuesday, comes from developer fees that can be used to modernize facilities over 30 years old. Developer fees have also funded 16 new air-conditioned relocatable classrooms in recent years, Molitor said.