Staff Reports
Following complaints from students and staff regarding extreme classroom heat during the first weeks of school, Gallup-McKinley County Schools officials released a Sept. 10 statement detailing immediate relief measures and long-term infrastructure plans.
District leadership first learned of temperature issues at Gallup High School during the opening week of classes. An in-person inspection revealed that several teachers were intentionally turning off their classrooms’ evaporative cooling systems because the operational noise interfered with instruction.
District staff were directed to:
- Send a crew to evaluate the building’s electrical capacity
- Identify options for adding individual AC systems to support cooling
- Explore classroom microphones or similar sound solutions as an interim measure for staff to use
In the following weeks, 36 supplemental air conditioning units were purchased and installed at Gallup High School at a total cost of almost $14,000.
These were added to existing evaporative cooling units that must be refilled with water to cool the air. During installation, crews reportedly discovered that several roof exhaust fans were no longer functioning. Some fans have since been replaced with more on order, to restore proper air circulation throughout the building.
GMCS issued a purchase order to FBT Architects for over $92,000 to complete engineering and design work for new rooftop HVAC units for portions of Gallup High School.
This is not optional paperwork; New Mexico requires multiple stages of state approval and fully stamped construction drawings before a project like this can move to contractor bidding. GMCS cannot solicit HVAC contractor bids or install new rooftop units until the engineering design and Construction Industries Division approval process is complete.
GMCS has purchased mobile cooling units for Gallup High School, Navajo Pine High School, and Thoreau High School as a bridge solution. Construction of the new Thoreau High School will break ground next month. Navajo Pine is currently in design and scheduled for replacement. Gallup High will receive permanent roof top units after construction drawings are approved.
Aging infrastructure is a genuine, districtwide challenge, and GMCS has been actively addressing it. Over the past three years, GMCS has invested over $81.5 million in HVAC replacement and repair across 12 schools.
