Cooling units malfunction at Roberto Clemente Community Academy as record heat wave enters second day

Chicago Public Schools removed the portable air conditioning units and replaced them as record heat bore down across the region Thursday.

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Chicago Public Schools sign at CPS head quarters.

Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Air conditioning broke down and was restored Thursday at Roberto Clemente Community Academy.

Portable cooling units were not working properly at the high school, 1147 N. Western Ave. in Humboldt Park on Wednesday and were removed from classrooms, Chicago Public Schools said in a statement.

On Thursday, new cooling units were installed at the school to replace the broken ones, the district said.

The cooling issues came as Chicago saw its first 100-degree day since 2012 on Thursday, breaking a record for Aug. 24, according to the National Weather Service.

“Keeping students and staff safe, healthy, cool and comfortable this week is our number one priority. Chicago Public Schools has a plan for extreme heat, extreme cold, and all other climate situations. The vast majority of our cooling systems at our more than 500 District-run schools held up Wednesday and Thursday, and in those cases when there was a power outage or a unit or a central air system did not function as intended, our team worked quickly to respond and address the situation,” the district said.

All schools in the district have working air conditioning, and any future issues will be repaired in “real time” by the CPS facilities team, the district said.

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