COUNTRY CLUB HILLS, Ill. – Southwood Middle School is one of at least two schools that, according to parents, have not had heat since students returned Monday from Thanksgiving break.
“It’s the superintendent that needs to make the call. He needs to cancel school until we get these buildings under control and the schools are safe. They are not safe right now,” parent Sequoia Williams said.
Sequoia has two children who both attend Southwood Middle School and another child at Meadowview Intermediate, both in Country Club Hills District 160. She said she met with the middle school principal Philip Bazil on Monday.
“The principal was there and he said we’re having an issue with HVAC. He said there’s no heating right now in the building, and I said, ‘But it’s 22 degrees outside,'” Sequoia said. “We got here today and there’s still no heat. Precision, the company that’s fixing the issue, was still in the back today.”
Bazil shared the following message in a school-wide email on Monday:
“In an effort to be more transparent, we are experiencing some HVAC issues at Southwood Middle School. We have allowed students to wear their coats in their rooms until the situation is resolved. We currently have people working on restoring the heat in the rooms affected.”
Tisha Williams has twin daughters who also attend Southwood Middle School.
“Why wasn’t a call made ahead of time to the parents? The children were just out for the Thanksgiving holiday. They returned to school Monday with no heat. I believe as a parent that a call should have been made Sunday or Friday,” Tisha said.
WGN News reached out to Country Club Hills School District 160 and did not hear back, so we went to their offices where an administrator declined to provide a statement or talk on camera. The administrator briefly told WGN News it’s an issue they’re working on in two classrooms, a contrary remark to what parents said.
“Today, the kids couldn’t do gym. The Spanish class, the tech room, there were still a lot of classes that were without heat and they just won’t do the right thing – canceling school – until we can get it rectified,” Sequoia said.
Some other parents WGN News spoke with said if the issue continues, they will take their child(ren) home. At this time, the school district has not provided any updates.