School districts race to invest in cooling solutions as classrooms and playgrounds heat up

Scores of schools across the U.S. are carpeted in asphalt with no shade. The situation has become acute enough that kids are losing classroom time to closures related to heat. The burden is felt more acutely in low-income communities of color, where temperatures can be 7 F (3.9 C) higher than surrounding areas. To cool outdoor spaces, more schools are replacing asphalt with cool, reflective surfaces and planting trees and other plants. Indoors, some schools have turned to cool roofs and window films, which are effective and less expensive than switching out entire air conditioning systems. There is increasing public funding available to make these changes, but schools with fewer resources may not be able to take advantage of them.