No air conditioning at some Austin ISD campuses as new school year begins

AUSTIN, Texas - Some of Austin ISD's campuses experienced issues with their air conditioning systems as a new school year began Monday morning.

The district told FOX 7 Austin that McCallum High School's air conditioning was out when students returned to campus. Officials say the school's main chillers, which supply A/C to the building, were down until about 9:27 a.m.

District officials say the chillers that supply air to the theater and art rooms were still down as of noon Monday, and crews are out working to repair them.

AISD also says that the Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA) has only one working chiller in the main building with a rental chiller supplementing the broken one. However, the rental only has one of two compressors running, so it is not working at maximum capacity.

The district says contractors will be working tonight to remove and replace the broken compressor on the rental chiller to ensure it is working at 100% capacity for school. 

Twenty percent of AISD buses also do not have air conditioning.

With the record heat, Austin ISD's transportation department is encouraging students to bring water and wear light colored clothing.

They also are asking parents to accompany students ages 10 and younger to and from school bus stops, especially in the afternoon. District officials say they do not want students to spend more time outside after getting off their bus.

District officials say next year, all routes will have A/C thanks to the 2022 Bond, but in the meantime, the transportation department is prioritizing A/C on its longer routes.

Austin ISD also shared with FOX 7 Austin its district temperature guidelines for both hot and cold weather.