School districts across Long Island are taking steps today to keep students safe in the classroom in response to extremely hot temperatures expected for our area today.

Several school districts have already announced early dismissals.

Patchogue-Medford Superintendent of Schools Donna Jones said the district's UPK students will be dismissed at 11 a.m. today and elementary school students will be released at 11:45 a.m. Before-school care will take place, but all after-school care and activities are canceled.

The Central Islip School District announced early dismissal for all students in K-8 today between 10:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m., while the high school will follow a testing schedule. The district said it will have early dismissals on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week as well.

Other school districts, especially ones without full air conditioning, are enacting cooling plans today.

In response to parent concerns, North Bellmore Superintendent of Schools Marie Testa told News 12 in a statement that the district is canceling all outdoor activities, established cooling spots in cafeterias and libraries and will move classrooms without air conditioning into shared spaces with classrooms that do.

"Due to the aging infrastructure of our school buildings, in order to offer centralized air conditioning, it is essential to upgrade both our HVAC and electrical systems," Testa wrote. "We recognized that these improvements are critical to fostering a healthier and more comfortable learning environment by enhancing air quality through modern filtration systems."

Testa said the district previously tried twice to present the community with bond proposals to upgrade the district's HVAC systems, but both were rejected.

She added that the district has worked over the years to add as many air conditioning units to "every space possible" with the funds available.

The district anticipates using its budget and reserves to upgrade electric panels and install air conditioning in three of its five schools this summer. Testa said the district received state approval to move forward with bidding projects for electrical panel replacement for the other two schools, which could be completed before next summer.

Facing similar criticism from parents, the Babylon School District, which has air conditioning in some classrooms but not all, sent out a letter to the community last Saturday, June 21, saying school officials were monitoring the forecast and had heat protocols in place.

"The safety and well-being of our students and staff remain our top priority, and we will be taking it day by day," Babylon Superintendent of Schools Carisa Manza wrote.

Smithtown Superintendent of Schools Mark Secaur said the district, which also doesn't have air conditioning in every classroom, "will remain open, but we will take all reasonable precautions to provide for a comfortable school environment for the students and our staff."

He added, "The district is in the process of planning to update our heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems district-wide. The cost of this work is expected to be significant, so district-wide HVAC upgrades would only be feasible through a voter-approved bond issue. Prior to this, the district will utilize the services of engineers to perform electrical and mechanical capacity studies for all twelve instructional buildings in order to have a thorough understanding of the scope of the work involved, including the projected costs."

Last December, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a new law that establishes 88 degrees as the maximum temperature allowed in classrooms before students and staff would have to be removed from the space. It also mandates that schools begin to take action once the classroom temperature reaches 82 degrees.

The change, which takes effect on Sept. 1, could mean more early dismissals and a rush to invest in better-ventilated educational spaces moving forward