LAUSD schools without AC amid sweltering heat

WEST ADAMS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The extreme heat is taking its toll on overworked air conditioners, and for some Los Angeles Unified School District students that means sweltering classrooms.

"As the temperature goes up, the service requests really come in a lot, and so yesterday we had the most service calls we've received all year, about 470 that came in," said Roger Finstad, the LAUSD's director of maintenance and operations.

Twenty-five second-grade students at 24th Street Elementary in the West Adams district had to be relocated to another classroom when the air-conditioning unit in their room broke down on Tuesday.

Technicians have been kept busy responding to hundreds of repairs at schools. The district says they're doing everything they can to keep students cool and safe while the units are repaired or replaced.

"When it's as hot as this, we actually follow an inclement weather schedule so just as if it was raining, we make alternate plans for the students because we know it's not healthy for them to be outside in this hot, humid weather," said Mary Ann Sullivan, principal at 24th Street Elementary School.

The district is using bond dollars to replace broken air-conditioning units and money from the general fund to make repairs.