Temporary Classrooms Are Bad For the Environment, and Worse For Kids

tcd004 (134130) writes "You've always suspected those trailer-type portable classrooms are no good, right? It turns out you're right. Analysis of prefabricated classrooms in Washington shows the structures often don't allow for proper ventilation, leading to terrible air quality for kids. Students in temporary classrooms have higher rates of absenteeism than those in standard classrooms. And the energy-inefficient structures often become permanent, sucking on school energy bills for decades, and requiring more upkeep than permanent classrooms. What's needed are new designs for healthy, sustainable temporary classrooms."

Global warming is causing bad grades now

[NotDrWho]

KATIE CAMPBELL: Other studies show that, as CO2 levels rise, student performance falls.

Yes, that is an honest-to-god quote from this report. No joke.

Re:Flawed?

[PongStroid]

Define old. At my son's school, across the street from our house we had a classroom in a portable. And not just *any* portable: Built in 1941 for the army, and installed at the school in 1943 to temporarily help with overcrowding in the regular classrooms. Our neighbor, who is 95, lived here when it was installed and her kids (who are now great grandparents!) attended class in it. My son, now 13, also enjoyed this classroom. This "temporary" portable, literally spitting distance from the Hayward fault, wasn't even anchored to the ground - elevated by four feet of stacked blocks of wood . Even crazier... the thing was riddled with asbestos tiles, and had a mold problem. The portable went away last year - 70 years after it was installed. I'd like to think that the paperwork I submitted to the city and state to have the portable declared a historical landmark worthy of preservation had something to do with it.