Kids wearing coats in classrooms as heating problems persist at 2 Country Club Hills middle schools
COUNTRY CLUB HILLS, Ill. (WLS) -- ABC7 spoke with two mothers who both say they took their children out of class on Monday because of heating problems.
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They say Country Club Hills School District 160 has told them nothing about when the issues will be fixed.
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At Southwood Middle School, the sign outside says, "Attendance Matters." But some families say it is just too cold to be there.
"I asked them, I'm like, 'You had your coat on all day?' They were like, 'Yeah, it's really cold in our classrooms. Feel my hands. Feel my face,'" said parent Tisha Williams.
Sequoia Williams and Tisha Williams are among parents in Country Club Hills School District 160 who are upset about insufficient heat both at Southwood and at Meadowview Intermediate School.
"They're playing 'Ring Around the Rosie' with our children from class to class, trying to figure out which class can we put the children in that may be warmer," Sequoia said.
In an email to parents on Monday afternoon, Southwood's principal acknowledged "HVAC issues" that prompted the school to allow students to wear their coats in their rooms.
But parents say that email was sent only after they started calling.
"I just was told that they're working on it," Tisha said.
"I asked them, 'Can we please e-learn until these issues are rectified?' and my email was ignored," Sequoia said.
Those mothers say they were told by their children that heat in some rooms has been restored but others remain cold.
"They started school today knowing that the heat was not fixed in its entirety," Sequoia said. "Rather than just shutting down the building and saying, 'Hey, let us get this right.'"
Those parents say they learned of the problems at Southwood Middle School on Monday, but say at Meadowview Intermediate, there been heating issues since before Thanksgiving. ABC7 left messages for multiple district officials but did not immediately hear back.
