Schools lower the heat and risk a backlash

Like frugal homeowners, Bloomfield school officials turn down the thermostats in their buildings overnight -- except now they're cutting back even before the kids get out of school.

Schools in the Chathams and Parsippany-Troy Hills have lowered temperatures in their classrooms a couple of degrees, as well.

Pinelands Regional and Little Egg Harbor schools have gone a step further and added a winter break in February to save a few days on their heating bills.

As homeowners get more energy-conscious to save on fast-rising heating costs this winter, several New Jersey school districts are joining the act.

But the moves have their drawbacks. Marlboro's superintendent received complaints from parents after announcing earlier this month that the district would turn down the furnaces at 11 a.m. each day.

Bloomfield's policy to lower the heat at 2 p.m. led to some frosty parent-teacher conferences in the evenings, and a chilly classroom or two in the afternoons.

Many districts concede that in leaky old school buildings, there are few guarantees that the temperatures can be truly controlled in any given room, anyway.

"If you are next to the boiler, you could be one temperature, and it's totally different at the other end of the building," said James O'Neill, superintendent of Chatham schools.

Chatham schools were among many resetting thermostats from 70 degrees to 68. But reflecting the sensitivity of the situation, O'Neill said he's not about to reduce temperatures any further, for both the students' sake and his own.

"I'm not ready to deal with the heat that would come from another direction," he said, referring to parents.

Schools face an unprecedented rise in heating costs from both oil and natural gas, blamed on tight international supplies and hurricane damage to Gulf Coast energy plants and pipelines this fall.

Districts report their costs have risen 40 percent for heating oil over last year and 70 percent for natural gas, amounting to as much as $500,000 in unforeseen expenses in some budgets.

Several superintendents went before legislators earlier this month to ask for relief from the state-imposed spending limits. A bill would exempt much of the utility increases from the controversial spending caps, but so far it has been approved only by an Assembly committee, with no further action expected before the end of the session.

David Abbott, the superintendent in Marlboro, told the state lawmakers he was turning off the heat at 11 a.m. and letting ambient air warm the rest of the school day. He has since said the heat was turned down, not off. Each lowered degree saves the district $10,000 to $20,000, he added.

But his frustration with the state's spending rules hasn't cooled, he said, especially the new limits on budget surpluses that are meant to handle such unexpected costs.

"I'm tired of making it work," he said yesterday. "We're near the bottom in overall costs and can't do much better in achievement. ... Somebody has to make people realize what's happening."

The Bloomfield Board of Education, as part of a package of conservation measures, voted this fall to reduce the heat in its buildings at 2 p.m., saying the buildings would stay warm for at least a couple of hours more. The latest that schools get out is 3:30 p.m.

After the evening parent conferences in November, the rule was amended to no longer apply to schools when they have night events. Board president Edmund Zilinski said one elementary school also reported a couple of cold classrooms in the afternoons, and heaters have since been furnished.

Otherwise, the plan has worked fine, he said, and the board itself has done its part for the cause.

"At our last meeting in the administrative offices, by 11 o'clock (at night), it was rather cold," Zilinski said. "But you need to lead by example, of course."

As for the board's meeting scheduled for tonight, he added, "I'll dress warmly."

John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at jmooney@starledger.com, or (973) 392-1548.