JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — Students at Jefferson Elementary School in Jefferson City kept their jackets and hoodies on in class Monday after the boiler didn't work properly in the morning.
Tommy Arnold, the county's Director of Schools, said he was alerted the boiler was not on at 6:20 a.m. Monday morning. He said maintenance staff did have it on by 6:45 a.m. — an hour before school started.
"The boiler did cycle off a couple of times but was up to temperature by the start of school and will warm the rooms up shortly," Arnold's text to WBIR at around 9 a.m. said.
Teachers at the school sent WBIR messages that some classrooms were as cold as 51 degrees during the day.
Parents were notified through a phone voicemail from Craig Day, the school's principal, that the heaters were on. The message said the principal wanted to clear up misconceptions about the status of heat at the school.
"We currently have the boiler company themselves here on site working on this issue," Day said in the voicemail to parents. "Now there are less than a handful of classrooms that are cooler than we would like, but they are heating up as I send this message."
Parents like December Anderson, who has two students at the school, said she feels disappointed with a lack of communication. She also said that the heat issues are just one of many problems at the school.
"What's next? You know, like do I take my kid out?" Anderson said. "It's every month something's happening. I'm not gonna let my house be at 57 degrees knowing that outside is probably a little bit less than that."