Parts of Camarillo registered 108 degrees Fahrenheit today, and the heat is expected to continue until early next week, negatively impacting both student and teacher performance.

“The fact that the majority of classes don’t have A/C makes it hard to concentrate,” said senior Zach Duquette.

Seniors Jordyn White, Aaron Talabucon, and Michael Ma also agreed with this sentiment.

“It’s harder to focus and kind of demotivating,” said White.

“The heat personally makes me very tired. It’s unnecessarily challenging to stay awake,” said Ma.

Talabucon also mentioned the physical strife the heat caused, in addition to the mental challenges. “Sweating has become an actual problem. Besides it being extremely annoying and somewhat gross, it makes it harder to write and keep clean assignments.”

Not only do students find it harder to learn, teachers have also expressed difficulty getting through their lessons due to the extreme temperatures. Mrs. Katie Frederick, math teacher, said that she felt the heat marginalized her teaching and acted as the most considerable distraction among her students. “I feel like the students are more engaged and willing to do things on cooler days,” she said. “On warmer days, my classes are noticeably tired and suffer from a lack concentration. It also gives a sense that it’s still summer time, so it’s harder to get into the swing of things.”

“I don’t think it’s right to ask students to perform at their best when they are not given conditions to perform at their best,” she said.

Fortunately for her students, Frederick’s classroom is located in the L-Wing, the only wing currently on track to have air conditioning installed, due to its large size. While most Cam High buildings accommodate only one row of classrooms, the L-Wing has classrooms located along both sides of the building. Frederick said that she is grateful for the change, but she sympathizes with those who will not receive air conditioning. “I feel sad for everyone who doesn’t have AC, because everyone really deserves it,” she said. “I feel sorry for the students.”

The Oxnard Union High School District plans to replace all school windows with insulated, UV protected, tinted windows in order to help combat the heat. However, plans for installation of a school-wide AC system remain unforeseen.

“I think [the OUHSD] just need to move forward with the air conditioning,” said Dr. Kim Stephenson, principal.

Earlier this year, the Oxnard Federation of Teachers voted between two pending calendars for the 2015-2016 school year, one beginning in early August, and the other in early September. The Federation chose to start later in the year, possibly in attempts to avoid the worst of the heat, according to Mr. Don Crowell, physics teacher. “[…] The school starts later because of the heat,” said Crowell. “This specifically affects my AP class, which is on a deadline for the AP test.”

Twelve portable classrooms, collectively making up the T-wing, enjoy the benefits of having a pre-installed air conditioning system, unlike the main campus buildings. Mrs. Tawney Safran, AP European History teacher works in one such classroom, and remembered her previous teaching experience in the B-Wing with distaste. “I was in the B-Wing and sort of remember how unbearably hot and uncomfortable it was… Now when I walk out the door, I always feel drowsy and somewhat fatigued. I’m almost in disbelief that students have to endure that period by period.”