Mirror Lakes Elementary loses A/C for several hours Monday

Students were left sweltering in the September heat Monday when Mirror Lakes Elementary School’s air conditioning went out for about an hour.

The heat was so bad that some students went home.

WINK News meteorologists say that with the heat index, it could’ve felt about 100 degrees outside and temperatures continued to climb throughout the day.

Parents say that if the school doesn’t replace the air conditioning units, it could be putting their kids’ lives at risk.

Some parents say it was a surprise warm welcome when they picked up their kids from school.

“When I went into the school to pick up my daughter, it was hot there was no air,” said one mom. “Her face was flushed, you could tell she was overheated and she had shorts and just a polo.”

The school district told WINK News the air conditioning broke down today for a little over an hour. But it didn’t take long for students to feel the rising temperatures.

“There was a fan in there and these little kids were taking their shirt and pulling up their shirt and letting the air just flow onto their bodies and it was like okay and there goes all that .. it was just disgusting.”

School officials told WINK News that upgraded air conditioning units are on the school board approved list of projects if the sales tax referendum passes in November.

But some parents don’t feel comfortable waiting for the vote to fix the aging infrastructure.

“There are kids with asthma who are sensitive to the heat what if they had a reaction?”

If the tax referendum passes in November, the district says it would boil down to $64 a year for an average family of four.

They say that would fund much-needed repairs across the county.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of the story incorrectly stated the average annual tax burden for a family of four. The correct amount is $64.