Skoufis continues push for climate controlled classrooms

With the school year starting this week, Senator James Skoufis (D, Cornwall) is pushing Governor Kathy Hochul to sign his bill to establish a maximum temperature in school buildings and indoor facilities.

Co-sponsored by Chris Eachus (D, Newburgh), the legislation has passed the Senate and Assembly. Skoufis, Eachus, and local educators announced the bill’s passage in June on a sweltering day in front of Monroe-Woodbury Middle School.

“With students headed back to school and summer ongoing for another three weeks, now is the time to sign this important legislation,” Skoufis said. “For many years, we have protected kids and teachers from freezing classroom temperatures – we need to do the same in overheated buildings. When it’s too hot, kids can’t learn, teachers can’t teach, and safety is jeopardized. Make school cool, Governor Hochul, and please sign this bill.”

While the state has long imposed a minimum temperature in school buildings, this legislation caps a maximum safe temperature for students and faculty. Skoufis said the bill establishes two thresholds for schools to deal with the heat. At 82 degrees, a school must take measures to cool down a classroom(s), including opening windows, turning on a fan or air conditioner, or turning off the lights. If the temperature reaches 88 degrees, students must be moved out of the classroom.

The New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) heard from more than 700 educators in the 2023-24 school year alone about unbearable classroom conditions caused by excessive heat. In May, NYSUT constructed a portable sauna to recreate these reported temperatures in the Capitol so lawmakers could experience these conditions firsthand.

If Governor Hochul signs the legislation, it will go into effect on September 1, 2025.