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Tuesday, June 10, 2008 • BY JOHN MOONEY • Star-Ledger Staff

Spanish teacher Carlos Gonzalez-Ortiz felt about as useful as the two small fans straining against the heat wave in his third-floor classroom.

His students at Newark's West Side High School, baking under a glaring morning sun amplified by a blacktop parking lot, somehow didn't seem pumped about prepping for this morning's final exam.

"I was going to go over preparation for the final exam," he said, still cheerful as he wiped his brow. "But with all this heat, how can I? I don't know what to do."

If the misery of yesterday's 90-plus- or even 100-plus-degree temperatures needed any more casualties, count thousands of teachers and students, who sweated inside school buildings ill-equipped for the sudden summer temperatures.

From Phillipsburg to Orange, Vernon to North Plainfield, scores of districts ordered early dismissals, some for the first time in memory, and many planned the same for today, when the scorching temperatures aren't expected to abate. After-school and evening activities in countless communities also were canceled or rescheduled.

Bloomfield was one of the few towns to call off school altogether, grabbing some unused snow days from a season that suddenly seemed far, far away. Andover Regional in Sussex County was among those that sent children home before temperatures peaked in the afternoon -- but not before the heat index topped 100 degrees in the late morning.

"It's pretty warm, and we only have air conditioning in our media centers," said business administrator Terry Van Auken. "Obviously, you can't pack 350 kids into those rooms."

Big cities like Newark and New Brunswick, home to many of the state's oldest school buildings, saw the worst of it.

In Newark, where just five of 80 school buildings are air-conditioned, the heat reminded officials of how the district had been short-changed when the state's construction program for the poorest districts ground to a halt. West Side's nearly century-old building was next in line to have been replaced -- and like all the new urban construction, the new building would have had central air.

Sophomore Lauren Brantley said she felt the heat the moment she walked into the building. But things got really bad when she arrived at a morning biology class where the windows were still closed.

"We were literally laying on the tables," Lauren said. "It was unbearable."

Vice principal John Tonero estimated attendance was down about 20 percent, and those who did make it were ornery.

"They complain -- and have every right to," he said.

Fifteen-year-old Yasminah Boyd had the unlikely sensation of wanting to linger in geometry class -- a former science lab with one of the building's few window air conditioners.

As early dismissals spread across the state, parents were dealing with scheduling nightmares. Elizabeth was among those that kept schools open, thanks to air conditioning in more than 20 of its buildings and improvised plans to move classes to cooler spaces, or at least lower floors.

"It's a challenge for many districts like ours, where parents rely on the school system to provide a place of refuge during the day," said Elizabeth spokesman Donald Goncalves.

But some of those that stayed open also faced a backlash. Parents in Roselle expressed their ire over the district not closing its six public schools early, with some planning to share their concerns with the school board last night.

"When we had weather like we had today, that's an emergency," said one parent, Sharonda Johnson-Scott. "They should have evacuated."

Superintendent Elnardo Webster stood by his decision, saying he needed time to notify parents. "There was no situation that was dangerous for students," Webster said.

Across the state, many broiling schools close early

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