Air conditioning issues at Hillsborough County schools keep HVAC technicians busy

TAMPA, Fla. - Fourteen Hillsborough County public schools had their air conditioning units replaced or renovated over the past few months, but the district acknowledged its HVAC technicians have responded to A/C problems at various schools so far this year. 

This week, an HCPS spokesperson confirmed new parts were ordered to fix "intermittent" A/C issues at Wharton High School in Tampa.

"The reality is, any time an air conditioning is out inside of a school, that kid feels it. That student feels it. The teacher feels it. So our job is to respond as quickly as we can to make sure that we can do whatever we can to make sure that there's an active A/C," said Chris Farkas, HCPS's deputy superintendent of operations. 

READ: As sales tax money flows to schools, cool air will soon follow

According to the district, it has 29 million square feet of air-conditioned space in its schools. Farkas said all systems were tested before the start of the school year, but they became taxed when classrooms returned to capacity. 

"The reality is, you can't replicate that in any system. So even though it's working great, Murphy's Law is there still going to be some things that break and things that shut down with that push," Farkas said. 

Five years ago, taxpayers approved a half-penny sales tax where funds would go towards several projects, including new and updated cooling systems for 203 schools over 10 years. 

"It has afforded us the opportunity to spend over $400 million in schools. But sometimes there's a little bit of a short-term memory on that," Farkas said. "The reason we got that passed is because we have over $1 billion in deferred maintenance, which means that as we've gathered the $400 million, we're still only halfway there. So there are still some systems that need to be done."

MORE: How to make sure your A/C system runs efficiently in extreme Florida heat

Right now, Farkas said crews are doing their best to quickly address and fix A/C problems in schools. 

"We do short-term fixes: Spot coolers and water-cooled spot coolers. We do temporary chillers, but there are cases where a classroom is hot, and then we ask them to combine those classes," Farkas said. 

According to HCPS, the 14 schools that had their A/C units replaced or renovated recently are: Carver Exceptional Center, DeSoto Elementary School, Frost Elementary School, Grady Elementary School, Jennings Middle School, Woodson K-8 School, Burney Elementary, Jackson Elementary, James Elementary School, Madison Middle School, Martinez Middle School, Pierce Middle School, Tomlin Middle School and Wilson Elementary School.

The district tells FOX 13 that the following 14 schools are in the process of getting new HVAC systems: Brandon High School, Bryan Elementary School, Burns Middle School, East Bay High School, Fishhawk Creek Elementary School, Heritage Elementary School, Jennings Middle School, Mendenhall Elementary School, Nelson Elementary School, Roosevelt Elementary School, Seminole Elementary School, Sessums Elementary School, Shaw Elementary School, and Shields Middle School.