Alice High School heat woes raise health concerns amid repairs

A temporary chiller rolled onto the Alice High School campus in Alice, in Jim Wells County, as crews kept working on the main air-conditioning system. The district expected the unit to be operating by noon, while classrooms, the cafeteria and hallways relied on fans, bottled water and other stopgap measures.

Susie Luna Saldana, president of C-Cause United Teachers of School Employees and a former educator, warned that 15 or 20 minutes in a building without air conditioning and without ventilation can become a serious problem. Families shared photos of thermostats and hallways where the cooling was uneven from one part of the building to another.

Alice High School Principal Marissa Kubala said maintenance had been alerted and the district was working to fix the problem. The building is large and older, which makes cooling a campus of that size more complicated. To bridge the gap, the district placed fans of different sizes in classrooms and the cafeteria and added ice chests with cold bottled water for students and staff.

One parent said her son felt hot, had a headache and had to be picked up because the building felt stagnant, humid and uncomfortable. Alice ISD also allowed free dress, so long as clothing remained school-appropriate, and students who missed class because of the AC problems would not be penalized.

Physical school conditions, including temperature, are critical to student and staff health. ASHRAE’s education-facility guidance treats HVAC systems as central to air-conditioning, ventilation and indoor air quality in schools.

In July 2025, district officials discussed mold and elevated humidity at both Shaller Elementary and Alice High School, tying those problems to rooftop-unit and chiller failures. Those discussions also pointed to a long-term Johnson Controls contract and roof litigation as obstacles that complicated repairs.