WBGT heat safety stations and trained leads for Hawaiʻi schools

School Heat Safety: Monitoring Stations and Trained Leads for Hawaiʻi Campuses

Establish a scalable pilot giving each campus a fixed weather station that automatically uploads wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) status online and emails teachers, with a trained, stipended heat-safety lead per campus to keep the station working. Hawaiʻi has no required standard for when it is too hot for children to be active at school; on the mainland, heat has contributed to student deaths. In 2022, DOE high schools received handheld meters for athletics, however elementary and middle schools received none, and no system tracks heat illness. WBGT is the measure athletic trainers, the military, and workplace safety programs use for heat: it combines temperature, humidity, direct sun, and wind. Unlike heat index, it counts sun and wind, so it flags danger on days heat index reads safe. Color-coded activity guidance (from normal activity with water and shade breaks, up through rescheduling outdoor activity on extreme days) will be finalized with DOE and medical advisers; teachers never measure or interpret. Stations log continuously, giving the state its first campus heat data. Funding levels (equipment and two years of service; stipends and evaluation set with DOE): Core, 15 of the hottest schools (2016 DOE report), $37K; Expanded, 75 campuses, $186K; Full, all 298 DOE schools, $740K. Implementing agency: DOE (partnership in development).