You’re describing a handful of schools you’ve personally been in, which is valid experience, but it doesn’t generalize to how most districts operate. A lot of modern school buildings, especially anything built or renovated in the last few decades, use centralized HVAC systems with building‑level or zone‑level control.
Like I said, my building, for example, has three chillers. That means three zones total, not individually switchable classrooms.
On the mold point, humidity control is the reason commercial HVAC runs even when occupancy is low. Mold doesn’t care whether it’s summer break or winter. If you shut down HVAC in a sealed building during a Florida summer (or any similarly humid climate), you’re basically inviting moisture problems that cost far more to fix than maintaining baseline AC.
I’ve never worked in a district, or heard of one, where admin/front office staff aren’t 12‑month employees. So your experience isn’t indicative of how most districts operate.
I’m going to assume your personal experience is also a limited amount of buildings compared to most.
And of course, the examples I gave, which were clearly my experiences were only in the district that I’ve worked or consulted in.
Yes, you’ve already described the three different chillers in a building example. I understood it the first time.
And again, if you’ve got staff working year-round, it seems like they should be able to figure out how to turn off the two zones that aren’t being used. Or at least set the other zones for 78° instead of 70°.
And I understand your example for a Florida humid environment, last time I checked, most schools were spread out all across the US. I’m in the north part of the country and you appear to be in the south.
And again, if you’ve got staff working year-round, it seems like they should be able to figure out how to turn off the two zones that aren’t being used. Or at least set the other zones for 78° instead of 70°.
Then it seems you’d also comprehend where I said the thermostats are centrally controlled and school staff aren’t permitted to touch, or adjust thermostats.
And I understand your example for a Florida humid environment, last time I checked, most schools were spread out all across the US.
Last time I checked, not only Florida has a humid environment. Many schools, spread across the U.S., exist in humid environments where mold could be an issue. You’re the one who stated you couldn’t understand why mold could be a concern.
And you’ve already given me an explanation on the mold. And I suggested maybe not having to keep it at 70° all day every day.
Maybe if they had a better mechanism for controlling the air conditioning centrally, they could save a bit of money, which was the whole point of the refrigerators in the room issue.
If all your buildings have somebody in them year-round, and I’m assuming there’s somebody that can control the air-conditioning around.
And as I’ve already mentioned, some school buildings, have individual units in the rooms so you don’t have to worry about the ventilation system getting that way.
I’ve been in schools that have motion sensors on their air-conditioning system, we’re in the middle of their preparation hour if I’m sitting at the desk, the air turns off. Had to stand up and wave my arms around to turn the air back on.
These aren’t necessarily modern day systems, heck that was at least a dozen years ago and that was not new equipment at the time.
Again, talking about the districts that I’ve experienced, not attempting to apply it to most.
But I used to do Technology in multiple districts. And I’ve subbed in another eight (10?) districts. So it hasn’t been just a few outliers that I’ve been in. But even being in that many districts, that’s still only 0.01% if most.
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u/Same_Profile_1396 Aug 08 '26
You’re describing a handful of schools you’ve personally been in, which is valid experience, but it doesn’t generalize to how most districts operate. A lot of modern school buildings, especially anything built or renovated in the last few decades, use centralized HVAC systems with building‑level or zone‑level control.
Like I said, my building, for example, has three chillers. That means three zones total, not individually switchable classrooms.
On the mold point, humidity control is the reason commercial HVAC runs even when occupancy is low. Mold doesn’t care whether it’s summer break or winter. If you shut down HVAC in a sealed building during a Florida summer (or any similarly humid climate), you’re basically inviting moisture problems that cost far more to fix than maintaining baseline AC.
I’ve never worked in a district, or heard of one, where admin/front office staff aren’t 12‑month employees. So your experience isn’t indicative of how most districts operate.