What Are Cherokee Schools Doing To Battle The Heat?

The Cherokee County School District on Monday released its annual guide on how it will help its students stay cool and hydrated as they return to the classroom on Aug. 5.

The guides outline how the district will help students weather the heat and directs principals and staff on what precautions should be taken if heat advisories occur: 

• They will continue to allow students to bring water bottles on school buses until the temperature cools;
• All special education buses have air conditioning, so the high temperatures will have no impact on the district transporting these students;
• 119 regular education school buses have also been retrofitted with air conditioning units, which increases the percentage of the district's buses that are air conditioned to 49 percent;
• In schools in which the gym does not have air conditioning, the district has provided school administrators with information on purchasing auxiliary floor fans;
• principals and athletic officials will receive email alerts when smog alerts are issued for the Cherokee County area;