The heat was on at the District 428 School Board meeting Monday night as the board heard arguments to adopt an excessive heat policy.

The board was presented with facts and ideas by two women at Monday’s meeting in the stifling South Commons at DeKalb High School, 1515 S. Fourth St.

While no one argued air conditioning as a viable option for the school district, the women pointed out that many classrooms do not have fans and brought forth temperature readings taken by teachers.

In the basement of Huntley Middle School, considered the cooler of the two floors, the temperature registered 96 degrees. The temperature taken by a window in the shade last week at Lincoln Elementary School reached 106 degrees.

“This is a lawsuit waiting to happen,” said Melissa Butts, of Huntley Middle School, about the high classroom temperatures.

Lincoln School representative Mary Bauling presented the board members with a print-out charting the excessively high heat indexes, pointing out the detrimental effects once the index reaches into the orange and red danger zones that begin at 95 degrees. Bauling said multiple parents have reported signs of heat exhaustion in their students.

She recommended the schools provide information for parents regarding the effects of heat and also recommended creating a standard to follow when extreme temperatures strike the area since the district already has a plan in place for early dismissals.

“I just don’t think it’s a safe or productive learning environment,” Bauling said. “I know it’s not convenient for working parents, but it’s the health of our kids.”

Also taken care of in this first school board meeting of the school year was an introduction of the new teaching staff in the district, a summary of the summer school programs and preliminary enrollment numbers. Enrollment is up about 15 to 20 students, reaching 5,378 students as of Friday.

Linell Lasswell, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said that there is generally an influx of students when NIU begins classes, so the enrollment numbers will continue to shift for about the first 10 days.

Lasswell also said that the district has been able to accommodate the new students so far by shifting the overflow to other schools but that there is also a waiting list for the pre-kindergarten and early childhood classes in the district.

Another item tackled in Monday’s meeting involved the approval for the Huskie Stadium agreement. The single disapproving vote came from board member Mike Griesbaum who was disappointed with the lack of alternate facilities for the high school sports programs.

“We get hosed on this deal,” Griesbaum said, adding he has yet to see the cost-effectiveness of using the NIU facilities for sporting events.