Hawaii schools get more air conditioners in record hot year; electrical upgrades needed

HONOLULU – Education officials in Hawaii are hoping some portable air conditioners will cool the state's sweltering classrooms.

Department of Education Assistant Superintendent Dann Carlson says they're installing about 250 portable air conditioners as fast as they can.

Requests are pouring in from principals who want air conditioners in their schools to battle higher temperatures at a time when cooling trade winds are declining. Honolulu temperatures have broken records 25 times in the past year, and many classrooms often surpass 90 degrees.

Carlson told the Hawaii Board of Education Tuesday that the electrical systems in some schools just won't be able to handle the portable air conditioners. They're working through a long list of electrical upgrades.

He says the Department of Education is handling the situation as an emergency.