Nov 18, 2008 6:23 pm US/Central
No Heat In School Forces Students On Field Trips
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Luther High School South has no heat in the building because the school owes $70,000 to People's Gas.
CBS
Students at one Chicago school are taking field trips every day this week. Now, that might not seem all that odd, but as CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports the primary purpose of the field trips is to just get the kids out of their freezing cold school.
It's a school day, but the halls at Luther High School South are deserted. That's because the school owes $70,000 to People's Gas, so there is no heat in the building.
Space heaters aren't doing much to help, so the school administrators are turning to field trips this week to not only educate their students, but keep them in warmer environments.
"Today our students were at the DuSable Museum. They were at the Shedd Aquarium. They're going to see a history play tomorrow," said Assistant Principal Sharon Mason.
Mason says younger kids were even taken to a bowling alley to fulfill their physical education requirements.
But some parents say a trip like that is hardly educational. Diane York says she pulled her daughters out of the school because of the chilly learning environment.
"It's terrible. They don't deserve it," York said. "How are they learning? How are the teachers even teaching?"
Her daughter and other students say it's tough.
"We freeze every day, like it's really hard to learn when you're sitting there shivering trying to be warm," said sophomore Tanqueray Henderson.
"You have to wear your coats all day, and sometimes she lets us wear our hats and gloves," said 7th grader Jeri Henderson.
"Heavy coats, hats, scarves, gloves - anything you can do to keep warm," said senior Darius Riggins.
On a day like today, just a few minutes in the hallways at Luther South, and your fingers, your nose, your ears, they all start to feel a little numb. But the assistant principal says for the most part, the students have been real troopers dealing with the cold, and she says because of that, she's making them a promise for next week.
"A heated school and classrooms where everybody is ready to go back to classroom learning, and not outside learning." Mason said.
There is some good news to report tonight - school officials have worked out a payment plan with People's Gas, and gas service has been restored to the building.
But they say this all goes back to our troubled economy - parents can't pay their students tuition, so the school can't pay its bills.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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