DENVER — Denver Public Schools is working to install air conditioning at several schools before students return to the classroom on August 18.
The district has been chipping away at its list of 29 schools without air conditioning thanks to funding from a voter-approved bond measure in 2024. Taxpayers approved a $975 million bond in 2024 which includes $240 million to cool the 29 schools.
On Wednesday, construction crews put the finishing touches on air conditioning units at Doull Elementary School on S. Utica Street. The school's nearly 400 students will return back to class this year with cool air inside the building, including the school's 32 classrooms. Jo Carrigan, the school's principal, said this is a moment she knows families have been waiting for.
"Every year, DPS puts out the list of who's going to get AC, and we're one of the final schools who are getting it. And every year, we're so hopeful. And finally, this year, we got AC, we're so incredibly excited about it," she said.
Carrigan said she's seen the impact hot classrooms have on kids, from melted crayons inside the art classroom to students unable to focus. She said classrooms could reach temperatures above 90 degrees, especially on the second floor.
"You see kids after lunch and recess coming in, and their heads are down. They're, you know, taking in tons of water, and they're just sitting in a really hot classroom, expected to learn, and teachers are expected to create these engaging lessons, and it's really difficult when the building around them is so incredibly hot," Carrigan said.
Work to install AC is also finished at Ellis Elementary School on S. Dahlia Street. Heather Bock, the director of construction for Denver Public Schools, said air conditioning installation has begun at six other schools, including Skinner Middle School, Cory Elementary, Asbury Elementary, Johnson Elementary, McMeen Elementary and Bryant-Webster ECE-8.
Bock said those six projects will take two summers to finish because of the size of the buildings.
"Construction primarily happens over the summer. Our number one goal is to meet the needs of the students, so we do everything in our power to make sure that construction happens when students are not in the building," Bock said.
The district will begin construction to install AC in the last five buildings by 2028, Bock said.
Click here to see a map of the remaining 29 schools to receive air conditioning. The green markers show the two schools with completed AC ahead of the start of the school year. The yellow markers show the six schools where construction is ongoing. The schools with red markers are on the list to begin AC installation by 2028.
