Warm enough if you're a pipe

The lad came home from school a while ago and began gathering up a pile of clothes. “What are you doing?” I asked. “I have to go back up to school for drama and I’m getting clothes to layer on me. It’s cold up there.” And this coming from a kid who rarely feels the cold. How cold is it? The school turned the heat down to just above pipe freezing temperatures. No more warmth. The kids and teachers are wearing hats and scarves in classes. And jackets and down vests.

I’m surprised it took them this long. While 50-55° probably isn’t conducive to focused minds and attentiveness, it’s not going to get any better for the rest of the winter. In fact, it’ll get even colder. Such are the effects of the high heating fuel costs this year.

What would help, of course, is a little old fashioned winterizing. For example, the entrance to the school has a half inch gap between the two doors and snow blows in during snow storms. I’ve walked in to find a small drift in the front hall. It’s been like that for a few years now. No one fixes it. Windows in other parts of the school are similarly drafty...using the word drafty in the broadest sense. No storms windows, no shrink wrap on windows. Just single paned windows with a lot of drafts.

It’s one thing to turn the heat down, but winterizing would obviously help preserve what heat they do pump into the school. Our tax dollars literally flying out the windows.

And freezing teachers and kids.