San Diego heat requires school air conditioning to be raised

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Lauryn Sanchez, Staff Writer

With the arrival of sweltering heat this past week, many misconceptions were raised regarding Cathedral Catholic’s air conditioning system, none of which are true.

“We never turned off the air conditioning, we only raised the temperature,” Principal Kevin Calkins said.

As temperatures soared outside, many students began to believe that the air conditioning was turned off altogether. This wasn’t just a student rumor, but something many teachers believed as well. The idea that it was turned off completely after 11 a.m. spread around campus, but this was never the case.

Some believed CCHS administration had turned off the air conditioning in response to a mandate from the San Diego Gas and Electric Company. Yet this was also false, as the SDG&E never issued a mandate at all, but just a simple heat advisory.

“There was never a mandate,” Calkins said adamantly, “the SDG&E requested that CCHS conserve energy by turning up the AC. If everyone in town used the AC during this hot weather, [the SDG&E] would be overloaded. We complied with the request to be good neighbors, and to do our part.” In conjunction with the request, it was raised to exactly 76 degrees.

“I understand the AC had to be raised,” Mrs. Ellis said, “We can’t overload the power-grid.”

The previous school week went on, teachers abided the fiasco and so did students. Luckily, the weather pattern is due to break after the weekend, meaning San Diego will begin to cool down. Students can look forward to a comfortable upcoming week.

“As always, students need to stay hydrated, especially during the hotter part of the year,” nurse Deb Hilinski said.