Amid more extreme heat, schools in Puerto Rico have limited options

CULEBRA, Puerto Rico — When temperatures soar at a public school on the small Puerto Rican island of Culebra, students scatter in search of relief.

During a summer program last month, as outdoor temperatures climbed into the upper 80s, Zedrik, a rising third grader, sat in the schoolyard beside a bush not tall enough to shade him entirely from the sun. Kenneth, a ninth grader, took refuge in the library. Nayla, an eighth grader, went to the director's office, where an air conditioner offered limited relief.

The school has ceiling fans, but they don't operate at full strength. Other cooling equipment in the school doesn't work because it's been damaged by fluctuations in electrical voltage on an island dealing with an energy crisis.

Students and teachers often suffer heat-related illnesses at schools in Puerto Rico, one of many places where extreme heat is disrupting children's education more frequently. Puerto Rico has developed guidelines for moving students to places with ventilation and air conditioning during extreme heat, but in practice, students often have limited options. The U.S. territory in the Caribbean has made slow progress rebuilding school infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017 and earthquakes in 2020.

Centro de Periodismo Investigativo in Puerto Rico is collaborating with The Associated Press, Honolulu Civil Beat, CalMatters, and Blue Ridge Public Radio to examine how school communities are recovering from natural disasters.

School facilities in Puerto Rico are neither designed nor prepared to face hotter and more frequent heat waves, according to interviews with school staff and experts, plus data provided by the Department of Education.

Heat makes it harder for children to learn

Exposure to extreme heat is linked to reduced cognitive function in childhood, particularly in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. The smallest children are particularly vulnerable because they sweat less and have faster metabolisms, according to an analysis by the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF.

Heat also acts as a psychological stressor, triggering anxiety and reducing memory capacity, said Nellie Zambrana, a school psychologist and professor at the University of Puerto Rico.

"In the afternoon, classes have to be much more strict than in the morning to keep students' attention. Otherwise the class just becomes, 'It's so hot, mister. It's so hot,'" said José Quintana, a math teacher who suffered heat exhaustion himself at the school in Culebra, Escuela Ecológica, in 2023.

The eastern educational region of Puerto Rico that includes Culebra reported 124 cases of students affected by extreme temperatures in 2024, according to data from the territory's education department. That's in line with a recent study that documented warming temperatures there and elsewhere around the island as a symptom of climate change.

Across Puerto Rico, an island of 3.2 million people, there have been over 795 emergency room visits for illnesses related to heat exposure since 2023, and 20% of them were by young people aged 18 or younger, according to the health department.

The island government has acknowledged a need for more resilient schools to cope with heat waves, but many schools lack cross-ventilation and have cooling systems that are broken or insufficient.

A DIY approach to heat relief

At Escuela Luis Muñoz Marín in Yabucoa, in the island's southeast, the school community held raffles and collected a fee for dressing down on casual days to raise money to buy at least one fan for each classroom. Parents often send children to school with their own battery-powered fans to cope with the heat. Teachers have adapted by holding classes in the library, where there is air conditioning, said Josian Casanova, a history teacher at the high school.

Last year, some students felt sick and had to leave because of the heat, he said.

"It's hard for teachers to focus when it's so hot," Casanova said. "Imagine what it's like for students trying to concentrate."

At the school in Culebra, the inconsistent power has also affected meal preparation. Changes in voltage have damaged equipment, including the ice machine and ceiling fans, said María Villanueva, who has worked at the school for five years. The three cafeteria staff members cook meals without a ventilation hood for the stove, and food spoils quickly because of heat and humidity in the storage room.

Heat also poses challenges to U.S. mainland schools

Over the last decade, demand for air conditioning at the start of the school year in the U.S. has risen 34%, according to an analysis from Climate Central, a science and communications nonprofit that researches climate change. In 2020, the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated that 41 % of school districts needed to upgrade or replace their heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Demand for electricity has risen just as the island has been dealing with an energy crisis. Hurricane Maria in 2017 destroyed the island's electrical grid. Since the launch of privatization in 2021, electricity customers on average lose power four times a year for a total of about 13 hours.

The island's government has invested more than $15 million since 2021 in air-conditioning equipment for 14 schools, but there isn't always enough power to run them, especially when demand spikes during afternoons in the summer.

Escuela Luis Muñoz Marín installed air conditioning units this year, but they don't have enough power to turn them all on, Casanova said. The school has been waiting two years for the government to upgrade the building's power substation.

"If the power goes, there are no other options," he said.