ABC, 123…Where the Heck is the A/C?

It happens every dang year. All of us parents get super excited; we get our kids dressed up all fancy for the first day of school, take pictures, and often shed tears. But deep down, we are celebrating because no more summer camps, no more paying a babysitter, no more houses destroyed. The first day of the school year is bittersweet for many reasons.

Here's the part that happens EVERY YEAR: Heat days. As we start a new school year in the scorching month of August, we are still in the throes of the heat, with temperatures often exceeding 90 degrees.

Less than a week into the 2026-2027 school year, we have already had multiple heat days, kiddos have been let out of schools two hours early, and parents are not happy.

So what's the deal? Why don't many Northern Colorado schools have air conditioning?

Let's take a look.

Which schools HAVE air conditioning?

• Fossil Ridge High School
• Fort Collins High School
• Poudre High School
• Rocky Mountain High School
• Timnath Middle-High School
• Wellington Middle-High School
• Kinard Core Knowledge Middle School
• PSD mountain schools

Why don't all schools have AC?

There are over 30 Northern Colorado schools without A/C units. Why is that? The answer is simple: these schools were built in a time when A/C units weren't considered necessary. Say what? Apparently, when these schools were originally built, Colorado wasn't seeing such extreme heat.

Also, older schools are very hard to retrofit with new units. It's very difficult to add an HVAC unit because these schools were designed differently structurally, so adding a new unit would require demolition.

Money. The safety of the building as a whole takes precedence over an HVAC system.

I always figure the first, and often the second, week of the school year will have some early release days.

No fun. Unless you're a student.