Letters to the Editor: Extreme heat on Los Angeles public school campuses must be urgently addressed
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To the editor: We must act urgently to address extreme heat on our public school campuses (“Dealing with extreme heat is a full-time job for parents of young kids — and their schools,” July 8). Contrary to the article’s characterization, Los Angeles Unified School District has made green space a priority following my 2022 resolution that set a new standard requiring all school playgrounds to include at least 30% green space. Since then, our district has dedicated more than $1.2 billion of voter-approved bond funding toward greening and shading projects and more than 150 greening projects are currently in progress.
As the representative for East San Fernando Valley schools and an LAUSD parent, I know that we are starting to see the positive results of bringing green spaces to our campuses, but so many of our schools are still intensely hot. We must and will do more to transform all our public school campuses with the urgency this environmental justice issue demands.
Kelly Gonez, Los Angeles
This writer is a member of the LAUSD school board.
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To the editor: I also learned the hard way that air conditioning is a life or death requirement, not a luxury. During a brutal heat wave in late July 2022, my 4-month-old was playing on the tile floor of my home, which had no AC. He slowly stopped waving his rattle, then stopped making sounds, then laid his cheek down on the floor and stared blankly at the wall. I checked his temperature and found it to be 103 degrees.
Now terrified, I stripped him down, washed him with cool cloths and got him in the car with the AC on full blast. We raced to my in-laws’ house, which has AC, and laid him on the wood floor. After an hour, he started moving and cooing again and he was fine. That was the most frightening day of my life, thinking that I was going to watch my baby die in front of my eyes. When we moved a year later, AC was the No. 1 non-negotiable item on our list for our new home.
Kristen Robles, Ventura
