Late Friday evening, the governor signed the extreme temperature bill, which passed both houses of the Legislature this past June. Our statement on the passage of this landmark legislation here.
What this law does
This law requires all school districts and BOCES to develop policies protecting students and staff during extreme heat conditions. This is the first law that has ever established maximum temperature regulations for schools. At 82 degrees, schools must implement measures like turning off overhead lights, using fans and closing blinds. At 88 degrees or higher, schools must have plans to relocate students and staff when practicable. This means districts must develop plans to take action during high-heat days, and must show a good-faith effort to enact these plans when needed. The law does not require school closures.
In the coming months, NYSUT will be providing our locals with additional resources to track how districts are responding to high-heat events. The law will take effect on September 1, 2025.
How we got here
The passage of this law is the culmination of a sustained push by NYSUT members across the state to raise awareness of this issue and press our elected officials for change. While we've been working on this issue for many years, this final phase began to take shape during the 2023-24 school year:
- In August 2023, we talked about what educators doing to keep their students safe from excessive heat during the upcoming school year.
- In September 2023, as a heat wave hit at back-to-school time, we visited many hot classrooms across the state and brought along elected officials to experience what students and teachers do.
- That fall, our members contributed thousands of stories about classroom conditions. We assembled those stories into a nearly 80-page report we handed out to lawmakers so they could better understand this issue.
- During the 2024 legislative session, Sen. James Skoufis and Assemblymember Chris Eachus introduced a bill to address hot classrooms.
- In May, our members sounded the alarms when temperatures again soared in their classrooms.
- That same month, we brought a portable sauna tent to the Capitol so lawmakers could experience hot classroom conditions first-hand.
- We also brought our sauna tent to the NYS PTA conference to give parents a chance to experience classroom temperatures.
- In June, the bill passed the Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support.
- Throughout the spring, summer and fall, we kept the pressure on the governor to sign the bill by continuing to get your stories of conditions in classrooms.
- In December, NYSUT finally won relief from the heat for members and students when the governor signed the heat bill.
This new law will make a real difference in our schools and is the direct result of our members across the state raising their voices in support of colleagues and students. When we come together, we get good things done.