Heat plan in place as kids head back to school in Toronto amid sweltering temperatures

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) says it has a plan to help its school communities deal with sweltering temperatures as kids head back to classes for the first day of school Tuesday.

According to the school board, the plan includes reducing strenuous activities, such as gym and sports, encouraging everyone to drink lots of water, keeping doors and windows open where possible and using fans to provide air movement.

Of the TDSB’s 583 schools, 177 are largely air conditioned, while 243 others have cooling centres in large spaces such as gyms or libraries. The rest have temperature cooling areas classes can rotate through, where a temporary air conditioning unit is set up.

Each school will make its own decision about whether recess will be held outdoors Tuesday, depending on factors such as whether the schoolyard has shady areas or not. Outdoor opening day activities could also be postponed, the board said.

The board is advising parents to dress kids in light clothing to stay cool and says families can send kids with a thermos to keep water cold if they wish.

Dr. Samantha Green, a family physician at Unity Health Toronto, shared similar advice for parents.

“Make sure that the kids are dressed in loose-fitting, light-coloured clothing and drink plenty of water,” she told CP24. “And then teachers and schools need to be ensuring that there's plenty of ventilation — open windows, fans if there's no access to air conditioning, and plenty of time to cool down. Also, kids shouldn't be forced to exert themselves in the heat.

The start of school comes this year as the GTA sees an uncharacteristically sizzling start to September.

A heat warning remains in effect for the region, with temperatures expected to reach 30 to 40 C on Tuesday. With the humidex, it could feel close to 40.

The sweltering heat is expected to last through Wednesday.

“Overnight lows will be in the high teens to low twenties bringing little relief from the heat. Humidex values and daytime highs will be very atypical of early September,” Environment Canada said in its warning.

A cold front is expected to bring some relief from the heat on Thursday, when a high of just 24 C is expected, along with a 60 per cent chance of showers.

While the heat can be uncomfortable for many, it can pose serious health risks for the elderly, young kids, and people with health conditions.

Green said she would like to see more policy at the government level to ensure that maximum indoor temperatures are enforced.

“On an individual level, we all need to be aware of our risk and have a plan for these extreme heat days. So people who don't have access to cooling need a plan for where they can go,” Green said. “But more on a systems level and a government level — at the municipal level, provincial, federal, we need an adaptation plan.”

 She said that should include an environmental strategy like planting more trees, as well as policy measures.

“We also need policies to protect people,” she said. “So like a maximum temperature bylaw is one thing that we could have here in Toronto, which has been introduced in Hamilton to protect renters from extreme heat.”