Outdoor recess is restricted, and school officials in the Shawnee Mission School District are preparing to move students to cooler buildings in the event of power outages amid a record-setting heat wave this week in the Kansas City region.
The district sent out a weather alert to families on Monday outlining schools’ contingency plans, as temperature highs are expected to hover at or above 100 degrees for much of the rest of this week, with heat index values forecast at times to spike to 105 to 120 degrees.
A heat warning runs through Thursday night
Johnson County and the Kansas City metro face an excessive heat warning that began at noon Saturday and currently remains in effect through 10 p.m. Thursday.
The most recent major heat wave to hit the Kansas City metro was in July, shortly after a series of thunderstorms caused widespread power outages across parts of Johnson County.
At that time, the Shawnee Mission School District was not in session but had opened buildings as cooling centers, some of which had to relocate due to outages.
“Keeping students and staff safe is our highest priority,” the district wrote in the announcement. “We have all hands on deck and are ready to respond to issues that may come up.”
What if a school building loses power?
In its announcement Monday, the district said there are plans in place to transport students to cooler buildings if a school’s air conditioning goes out.
The prolonged heat wave, the district said, “creates the potential for problems to happen, from equipment failures that impact parts of buildings or entire buildings, to the potential for the tremendous stress being placed on the electricity grid leading to interruptions to electricity service in parts of the community.”
The school district said employees and “outside companies” will be on hand to respond if any building loses air conditioning, as well as alternative plans for lunch if food services are disrupted.
The district also has transportation plans if students need to move to a new building.
What about recess?
Additionally, the school district said it will determine each day this week whether students can have outdoor recess.
The National Weather Service’s Kansas City field office tweeted earlier this week that due to the extreme heat, outdoor activities should be limited, and previously scheduled outdoor events canceled or rescheduled.
In its Monday announcement, Shawnee Mission officials outlined the district’s safety guidelines for having recess when it’s extremely hot:
- Humidity above 80%: Recess should only be 15 minutes with a 5-minute rest of NO activity afterwards and plenty of fluid breaks.
- Temperature or Heat Index of 90 degrees: Recess should only be 15 minutes with a 5-minute rest of NO activity afterwards and plenty of fluid breaks.
- Temperature or Heat Index of above 100 degrees: No activity in the sun. May need to reduce activity in the shade.
- Temperature over 105 degrees: No outside activity
- Heat Index Above 110 degrees: No outside activity
District staff also asked parents and families to prioritize keeping students hydrated and helping them understand the importance of drinking water.
“These next few days will be challenging for the entire metro area, but we are prepared to respond as necessary, in order to ensure that students and staff remain safe,” district staff wrote.
Go deeper: Click here to read the full weather alert from the school district.
