Pierce Students May Enjoy Cool Comfort

At the start of every school year, Frank Vitone’s phone at Pierce College begins to ring.

Vitone is the keeper of some rather coveted information. As the college’s supervisor of heating, ventilation and air conditioning, he holds the chart that shows which classrooms have air conditioning and which do not.

So each year, teachers call seeking Vitone’s counsel. At stake is nothing less than a semester of cool comfort amid a sweaty sea of sweltering classrooms.

This fall, Vitone hopes to have some good news for the steaming campus, where only about a quarter of the rooms have air conditioning. A state-funded plan to install a $5.9-million modern air conditioning system at Pierce is in the works, with the trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District expected to vote on the project next month.

“We’ve tried over the years to add a little bit here and a little bit there, but our budgets have always been so tight,” Vitone said.

As a result, keeping cool at Pierce is a dubious and often disruptive pursuit, with some rooms featuring noisy window units and others, without air conditioners, hitting temperatures of 100 degrees or more. Sometimes teachers shorten or cancel class to escape the heat, Vitone said.

Vitone said the new cooling system will cover about 75% of Pierce’s buildings, including nearly all its classrooms. Certain large buildings, like the gymnasiums, will not receive air conditioning.

Blair Doane, the project manager at the Los Angeles Community College District, said the district has received one qualified bid for the project but the contract has not been awarded yet. He plans to seek authorization for the contract at the Oct. 7 meeting of the district’s board of trustees.