RIPLEY — At their November meeting, Ripley Central School Board of Education members learned that the district needs to make a decision concerning the state mandate regarding excessive heat in classrooms.

In December 2024, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation to require that all school districts develop plans to lessen extreme heat in classrooms and support services spaces. “Extreme heat can significantly impact a student’s concentration, focus and ability to learn,” Hochul said. “With this new law, we are continuing to make the health and safety of our kids and educators a top priority.”

The law, which went into effect on Sept. 1, established indoor temperature limits which determine when districts must take action. The Alert Level occurs when the temperature reaches 82 degrees. At this point, schools must take action to reduce heat stress, including turning off overhead lights, closing blinds, using and opening windows, and making sure students and staff have water breaks.

At the Evacuation Level, classrooms and spaces which reach an indoor temperature of 88 degrees cannot be occupied. All school districts must have a plan established to relocate students and staff to alternative spaces. If the district does not have alternative spaces, it may need to send students home.

In his report, Ripley Superintendent William Caldwell said the law will significantly impact the district’s current capital improvement project. To install air conditioning throughout the building would add nearly $3 million to the $8 million project. “If we do that, we would have to pull some other things out,” he said.

Caldwell said the district has been meeting with the architects of the project to plan the next phase. “The schools can only take on so much debt, so we can’t start another project until March 29, 2027,” he said. “We are trying to get everything prepared in advance.”

Caldwell said he will try to present an overview of the project and its cost at the board’s December meeting. He noted that part of the project would be window replacement which could help to keep the heat out. “By staying at $8 million, there will be no impact on taxpayers,” he said.

In a related matter, Caldwell told the board the district is renovating the nurse’s office to make it ADA compliant and enlarge the room itself. The room can easily be enlarged, he said, because there are two showers that do not work and can be eliminated.

Caldwell said that, although they could create a new nurse’s office in another part of the school, they decided to renovate the current room. “She said she wants to remain where she is because she is close to the little ones and close to the playground where many injuries occur,” she said.

Caldwell also told the board that the district is looking at repairing the bus garage for the use of EV buses. He said that the district is not planning on converting the whole fleet. “National Grid says there is enough power without the need to put in new transformers,” he said.

Because Ripley Principal Sara Centanni could not be present at the meeting, Caldwell shared her report with board members. He noted that the school musical, “The Aristocats” was “phenomenal.”

“I felt bad for our new music teacher … who got a script handed to him as soon as he walked in the door,” Caldwell said. “However, you would never have known that it was his first time doing a production.”

Caldwell said there were many students involved in the production and the response from the community was great. “We had to set out folding chairs for the first time because of the crowd,” he said.