Just 42 isle classrooms of planned 1,000 have AC

The state Department of Education has solicited air-conditioning bids for more than 800 classrooms under the governor’s ambitious goal of cooling 1,000 classrooms by year-end, but only about 40 classrooms so far have been cooled.

The department says 42 classrooms statewide have been air-conditioned, and contracts for another 25 classrooms have been awarded, according to a progress report scheduled to be presented today to the Board of Education. Cooling projects covering 832 classrooms are currently out for bid, and the remaining solicitations to reach 1,000 classrooms are scheduled to go out over the next few months.

“We’re pressing forward,” DOE communications specialist Brent Suyama told the Honolulu Star-­Advertiser. “We’re trying to get all the projects done before the beginning of next school year, and we’re pushing past 1,000 classrooms.”

He said the report reflects a snapshot of the department’s progress. Referring to the categories for classroom projects out for bid and those awarded and completed, Suyama said, “It gives people a sense for which direction we’re going. You’re not going to see each one go up each month. There might be a couple of weeks of nothing, and then all of sudden, you’re going to get hundreds all at once.”

The targeted classrooms are spread across 33 schools on a priority list of the state’s hottest campuses. Ewa Beach Elementary, Ilima Intermediate and Campbell High schools — all in Ewa Beach — are in the top three spots.

The “cool schools” initiative — pledged by Gov. David Ige in his State of the State speech in January and subsequently funded with $100 million from the Legislature — initially was envisioned to be completed by December. But the project faced setbacks after an initial round of proposals came in significantly over budget this summer.

DOE officials attributed the high bids to increased labor costs due to the state’s construction boom and an initially limited number of companies that were prequalified to bid on the work, but some general contractors complained that the ­department’s project specifications were overly complex. The department put most of the work out for bid again and doubled the pool of prequalified contractors to 36 companies from 18.

Ige said despite the delays he’s encouraged by the progress.

“The governor remains committed to cooling public school classrooms in a cost-efficient manner and continues to work with the DOE to make it happen,” Mike McCartney, the governor’s chief of staff, said in an emailed statement. “Despite the slow start, the DOE is on track to cool more than 1,000 classrooms by next school year.”

Air conditioning is one part of the DOE’s heat abatement program, which aims to cool classroom temperatures to 76 degrees. Mechanical cooling is planned for classrooms where heat abatement efforts — such as ceiling fans, solar-powered vents to draw out hot air, and heat-reflective roof systems — don’t sufficiently bring down the temperature.

Those projects, which are separate from the 1,000-­classrooms initiative, are ongoing, said DOE spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz.

“We understand that the governor’s put a number forward, but overall, when we do reach that number, that’s not going to stop the initiative to continue to try to ensure that our schools across the state are comfortable for our students and our staff,” she said.

Of the 11,806 DOE classrooms across the state, more than 4,400 have air conditioning. Fifty-one schools — or 20 percent of DOE schools — had at least 90 percent of their classrooms air-conditioned as of Nov. 1.

Besides air conditioning, Suyama said, the legislation providing $100 million for the “cool schools” initiative also requires investing in “other heat abatement measures, energy-efficient lighting and other energy efficiency measures” to help offset energy use.

“We’re still moving forward with the other parts of the law as well,” he said.