Rogue River School District hopes residents vote for $3.335 million … – KTVL

Rogue River Elementary School's East Campus only has a boiler room providing heat to the school. With a new bond, the school district hopes to install a new HVAC system so the classrooms get adequate heating and air conditioning. (KTVL/Mike Marut)

Rogue River, Ore. - Rogue River Elementary School's East Campus has a heating ventilation and air conditioning system built back in the 1960s.

"At this point, there's no cooling," Janel Reed, principal of the elementary school, says. "In the summer months or in the spring when it starts to get really warm, our building holds in the heat."

Students notice the huge temperature fluctuations throughout the year.

"When you're cold, at first you feel 'I'm so cold!' and then when you go to hot I'm like 'haaa' but then it's too hot! I don't really like it," Amberlea Kramer, a 2nd grade student at the school, says.

One long-time teacher says she takes precautions in the warmer months.

"Usually I get to school between 6:00 and 6:30 [in the morning] and I put fans in all my windows," Donna Olympius, a 2nd grade teacher, says. "I put a fan in the door. I start sucking all the hot air out. It's like a sauna in here - it's very unbearable."

Olympius has been teaching at Rogue River Elementary for 25 years. Every year, she battles the room temperatures to keep her students focused on learning.

"The students have a really hard time coming in and diving into math where you really want them to be concentrating so we have to try and mix it up," Olympius says. "I buy Popsicles, bring Popsicles in. We take Popsicle breaks."

This bond could create a longer-term solution than the Popsicle breaks. A majority of the bond's funds would go towards installing a new HVAC system in the school.

"At the time the system was built, there wasn't as much attention paid to cooling the air or circulating the air," Paul Young, the superintendent for the Rogue River School District, says.

To replace the system, residents can vote for Measure 15-169 on May 16th's ballot. The bond is worth $3.335 million dollars over the next seven years if passed.

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Rogue River School District hopes residents vote for $3.335 million ... - KTVL