As the winter season continues, the temperature outside seems set on decreasing, while the inside temperatures vary all across campus.

“I think most of the cooling is usually on the second floor,” Raphael Toro, ‘24, said. “For example, the [journalism room] is cool, so is Mrs. Cotton’s room, and I would say the general space in the music lyceum.”

Temperatures were recorded across WHHS on the morning of Jan. 16 and it was found that the temperature in the science wing was 64 degrees, about six degrees below average room temperature.

“Sometimes it does get cold to a point where I have to get a jacket on, even though I’m already wearing two layers of clothing,” Toro said. “There are days where I’m shivering because of how cold it is in some classrooms.”

The volatile temperatures these past weeks and the return of students from multiple breaks and school closures have prevented the heating system from catching up.

“The HVAC system is designed to handle a climate that is a little bit different from what we experience in this part of the Midwest,” Matthew Chaney, assistant principal, said. “We had temperatures that were in the 50s, and then we just recently had temperatures that were in the single digits. That’s a very big fluctuation in temperature in a very short amount of time so that just taxes the system to be able to make sure that the building is heated to a proper temperature.” 

As the school’s system tries to maintain the day-to-day climate there also are times when the workload is a bit too much, resulting in leaks and drops in temperature, especially in the science wing.

“I dress for my classroom every day, expecting it to be cold,” Jeffrey Lazar, a chemistry teacher, said. “I think when the students are in the lab and it’s really cold in there, that affects them and their ability to get stuff done.”

However, in an attempt to keep the school warm, there have been numerous reports of excessive heat, with teachers having to open multiple windows, despite the cold outside, and even bringing in fans. 

“The choir room is regularly hotter than the rest of the school,” Andrew Canter, ‘25, said. “I generally bring a sweatshirt to school every day, even if it’s really hot because I expect that it’ll get cold later in the day. If it’s really hot, sometimes I get sleepy, and I have to take off my sweatshirt.”

Despite the extreme temperatures, the task of repairing our system is rather simple for our custodial staff.

“The custodians are great. They’re fabulous,” Lazar said. “They’ll come in and check it out and then they’ll call whoever they need to call from the central office. I think there’s probably not enough of them for the whole school district and so they get to it when they can.”

While teachers do not have control over their individual classroom’s temperature, administrators are aware and will try to find some sort of resolution.

“We are wanting to know if anyone is experiencing issues when it comes to temperatures so that we can try our best to address it,” Chaney said. “A temperature in a classroom probably won’t satisfy every single person. Maybe you like a temperature that’s colder, others want it to be much warmer. We’ll do what’s necessary to make sure that we give our faculty and our students the best environment to do what they need to do.”