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Students and staff at John Cline Elementary School in Decorah were greeted with cool air as window air conditioner units were installed by the Decorah Community School District (DCSD) Building and Grounds staff on Thursday, Aug. 31. The new air conditioners are the result of average temperatures inside John Cline, as tracked by John Cline and Carrie Lee Principal Rick Varney, reaching 83 degrees in the early morning hours of Aug. 23 and 84 degrees on Aug. 24 and 25. The indoor temperatures on Thursday, Aug. 24 led to the cancellation of all schools in the district. According to DCSD Superintendent Dr. Tim Cronin, district staff first attempted to order 20 air conditioners from Home Depot after the extreme heat on the first days of school. When that didn't work out due to delayed shipping dates, they spent Monday night, Aug. 28, searching metropolitan areas that might have multiple stores that would have AC Units. After considering Madison, WI, and Chicago, they settled on the Milwaukee area. "We had a driver in La Crosse on Tuesday that was able to get three units from that store to get us started," Cronin said. Cronin then drove to Milwaukee himself to pick up the remaining AC units. "I made that decision because I anticipated some of the problems with logistics of tax-exempt numbers not working and being able to make executive decisions on purchasing and such," Cronin explained. "In addition, I lived there for six years and my parents still live there so I had knowledge of some of the Home Depots and free lodging. Plus, if we could not get all the units home in one trip, I had planned to store them in my parents' garage." "A big-time shout out to [the DCSD Buildings and Grounds] staff who began working on frames when we got the first ones back on Tuesday: David Forde, Jon Madrigal, Kerry Glock, Al Ludeking, Joe Thoma, Shawn Gordon," Cronin added. The total cost of purchasing and installing the AC units will be half-funded by the SAVE fund and half-funded by a donation from Decorah Bank and Trust per President and CEO Ben Grimstad. Cronin recognizes that window air conditioning units are not as effective as other cooling solutions and that they make noise, which is a reason why they are not a first choice for cooling classrooms. "When I was a principal in Cedar Rapids, my school had window units and they did cool the rooms but when it was hot, they did not cool down more than seven to ten degrees," Cronin said. "There are many factors that make it difficult to cool a classroom including, but not limited to, the number of students in the classroom, the direction of the windows, window covers / shade from trees, construction of the building, etc. Until we operate units, we will not know how effective the units will be in cooling the rooms." "We do know this," he added. "The rooms will be cooler and that difference may allow the district to hold full days of instruction. And on days we do not cancel school, it will make the classrooms more comfortable."

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John Cline students and staff will get some relief from the heat after air conditioners were installed in classrooms Thursday