Kids, staff sweltering during heat wave as Winnipeg daycare running without AC

Posted on July 12, 2024 by Peggy

When Taeyoul Kim picked his daughter up from Cairns Children’s Centre earlier this week, the eight-year-old looked exhausted.

Staff at the daycare told him she was left in tears by the heat inside the building, which is without air conditioning amidst a blistering heat wave.

Kim’s daughter, who has attended the daycare for three years now, has autism spectrum disorder. Her ability to verbally communicate is limited, so she couldn’t tell staff at the centre how much she was struggling with the intense heat and muggy conditions inside the building, Kim said.

“The air circulating inside was only getting hotter and hotter,” Kim said, and he’s worried about the safety of the kids inside.

“This is a very critical and serious situation.”

Five children sit at a mat on a school gym, playing a board game — A thermometer in one of the gym areas the daycare uses read 29 C on Friday, but with the humidity and lack of windows, staff and children said it felt as warm inside as it did outside. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)

The HVAC system at Bonnycastle School, where the daycare leases space, had been running its “last leg” for the past several years, said executive director Tannis Hewitt. It stopped working entirely early this year.

That’s a problem with much of the province, including Winnipeg, under heat warnings this week, with temperatures in the city hitting the 30s, but humidity making it feel as warm as 40 on Thursday and Friday, Environment Canada said.

A thermometer in one of the gym areas used by the daycare showed a reading of 29 C on Friday, but with the humidity and lack of windows, some children said it felt as warm inside as it did outside, where the temperature reached 32 C in the afternoon, feeling close to 40 with the humidex.

The Pembina Trails School Division said it’s installed a portable air conditioner in the daycare to help bring the temperature down at the school, along with fans in the areas the daycare uses.

But Hewitt said there has been little relief inside the building since temperatures soared this week.

“It’s a lot of little hot bodies running around in a very hot space,” Hewitt said. “By the end of the day, my face has gone from pink to red to almost purple.”

‘Doing our best’

In the past, the daycare operated without AC in the gym areas, but could use the air-conditioned theatre space to take heat breaks. But with the AC system down for the entire school, that’s no longer an option.

“It’s just challenging to work with absolutely no break in the heat,” said Hewitt.

It’s a challenge for the kids at the daycare, too.

“[I am] tired, not wanting to do as much, because I am just overwhelmed by [the] heat,” said 10-year-old Jack Leach.

Staff have moved some activities outside, to a forest space at the back of the building where kids can stay in the shade.

The daycare is also taking kids on field trips to places with air conditioning, at the centre’s expense, said Hewitt.

Staff are also “using the only cold resource that we have in the building … the cold tap water,” she said. That means “doing a lot of sling sprinkler time” and using cold compresses, Hewitt said.

“We’re doing our best.”

Child stands in front of a fan inside a school gym — The province said it is working with the school division to help cool down the building, while a new HVAC system can be installed for the building. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)

Despite those efforts, Hewitt is concerned that the temperature inside the building could take a toll on the children’s health.

“I am very concerned about heat stroke,” she said. “I’m worried that we’re going to get calls that children are headed to doctors and hospitals at the end of the day.”

HVAC replacement a priority: province

A replacement of the HVAC system at the Bonnycastle School was approved by the previous Progressive Conservative government, Hewitt said.

But the funding slated for it was deferred by the current NDP government just before the search for a contractor who could install the new system began, she said.

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson to the premier’s office said the project to replace the HVAC system “was approved, not cancelled,” and remains a priority in the upcoming fiscal year.

The statement also said a plan was put in place with Pembina Trails School Division after a site visit, including adding the portable air conditioner and fans.

But Hewitt said she hopes the province will “step up,” and honour its agreement to fix the HVAC system.

“It just doesn’t feel respectful to the families or the children … and it is dangerous.”