WHEELING, W.Va. — Portable air conditioners continue to cool the first and second floors at Ritchie Elementary School, but stifling heat still is keeping students from attending classes on the third floor.
Fourth- and fifth-grade students at Ritchie will continue reporting to temporary classrooms at Wheeling Middle School until at least the middle of this week, according to officials with Ohio County Schools. They have been at Wheeling Middle School since the school year began.
Ritchie School is without a functioning air conditioning system as it undergoes a $7.1 million renovation project.
The temperature on the first and second floors at Ritchie is “fine,” according to Principal John Jorden, as temporary portable air conditioners continue to run throughout the school.
“The third floor is cooling off, but we’re not ready to pull the trigger yet (and bring the students back to Ritchie classrooms),” he said. “They have everything they need where they’re at.”
About 100 students are beginning their school day at Ritchie with breakfast, then being transported to nearby Wheeling Middle School…