TEMPE, AZ — Thousands of students in the East Valley started school Wednesday, during a record-breaking heat day at that.
Kyrene and Tempe Elementary School districts, Tempe Union High School District, as well as Chandler Unified, started class, but some students still had to walk to and from school.
Before noon, the Phoenix area hit 110º. By 3 p.m., it went up to 119º, breaking another record for the hottest recorded day for July 19.
Parents were seen waiting in their vehicles to pick up their children at the end of the day. Some stood under trees and awnings to get away from the sun.
“Even just the short waiting in the morning to drop them off and going to pick them up just a couple of minutes out here, and it's pretty unbearable,” said mother Sierra Rich who picked up her 3-year-old son from his first day of preschool.
Michael Gaines, who lives around the block from a Tempe Elementary School, drove to pick up his kids in a walking zone.
“It is completely blistering, hot. We'd love to retrieve our children at the end of the day because it's too hot for them to walk,” Gaines said.
Tempe and Kyrene Elementary School districts, as well as Chandler Unified, tell ABC15 they follow a heat index. If that reaches 95, they’ll limit outdoor recess. Schools will hold recess indoors if it is too hot.
Buses also have air conditioning, some playgrounds have shade structures over them, and the schools and staff are continuing to encourage kids to hydrate.
However, when ABC15 asked if there are any rules as to kids walking home, they could not provide an answer.
