Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed legislation to set a maximum classroom temperature of 88 degrees in public schools following a campaign led by the UFT and its state affiliate NYSUT. The new law takes effect in September 2025.
Until now, New York State regulations have required a minimum temperature of 65 degrees and New York City health guidelines have set 68 degrees as the floor, but they did not set maximum temperatures.
In a union survey in September 2023, during an extended heat wave, UFT school chapter leaders said they had recorded temperatures as high as 92, 98 and even 101 degrees, and thousands of rooms had inoperable or no air conditioning.
“It is beyond challenging for educators to teach, and students to learn, in overheated classrooms with temperatures above what any rational person would consider acceptable,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew said. “This new law will ensure that staff and students will not be subjected to these unhealthy and unsafe conditions during the hottest months of the year.”
The UFT and NYSUT advocated for the legislation as the number of uncomfortably hot days during the school year rose. In April 2024, the UFT Delegate Assembly adopted a resolution demanding action on the issue.
The new law, which Hochul signed on Dec. 13, prohibits students and staff from using a space that reaches 88 degrees or higher. It adds extreme heat conditions to the list of emergencies for which schools must have plans to relocate students and staff when feasible, to address medical and transportation needs, and to notify parents.
Under the new law, schools must adopt policies to ensure students’ and staff members’ health and safety on extremely hot days — defined as 82 degrees or higher in educational and support services spaces. Temperature must be measured in a shaded location, 3 feet above the floor near the center of the room. The law does not apply to kitchen areas where students’ food is prepared.
On days when temperatures reach 82 degrees, schools must provide relief through measures such as turning off overhead lights, pulling down shades, turning on fans, opening classroom doors and windows, turning off unused, heat-producing electronics, and providing water breaks, the law states. School systems will have the flexibility to determine how best to manage learning on these days.
With rising temperatures due to climate change, it’s important to create energy with technology that doesn’t exacerbate problems, said Ryan Bruckenthal, the co-chair of the UFT Climate and Environmental Justice Committee.
“As our world gets more difficult to live in because of climate change, we’re going to have to take steps to try to reverse the damage that’s been done but also to survive in a more difficult environment,” he said.