Coronado Unified School District (CUSD) sent students home at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, cutting the school day short as extreme heat hit San Diego County.
The district called a minimum day across its campuses, CBS 8 reported. CUSD was the only San Diego County district reported to have dismissed students early.
The early release came as the National Weather Service kept an Extreme Heat Warning in effect for San Diego County's coast and valleys. Temperatures ran 15 to 25 degrees above normal across the region, according to ABC 10News. The warning was initially set through Wednesday evening but was later extended through 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, ABC 10News reported.
The heat wave was fueled by the remnants of Hurricane Marie combined with a strong high-pressure ridge. Since June 1, San Diego had recorded only 14 days when the daytime high was below average, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Inland communities recorded the highest temperatures. Escondido hit 112 degrees Wednesday, eight degrees above the previous record for that date. Vista reached 105. San Diego International Airport recorded 93 degrees, the Union-Tribune reported. In Escondido, the "feels like" temperature approached 120 degrees, ABC 10News reported.
CBS 8 noted that students biking or walking to school should use extra caution during afternoon hours, when heat is most intense.
Other county districts took different approaches. San Diego Unified and Cajon Valley Union School District said they monitored conditions and moved activities indoors. San Diego Unified noted every classroom, gym and indoor facility in the district has air conditioning. Chula Vista Elementary shifted to a rainy day schedule, holding recess, lunch and PE indoors.
"It seems to be hotter for a much longer time," Maria Preciado, principal of Pence Elementary School in the South Bay, told KPBS on Tuesday, Sept. 8. "I don't ever recall having as many rainy day schedules in the summer as I have had this year."
The City of San Diego opened cooling centers at recreation centers and libraries through 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, according to the city's Office of Emergency Services.
National Weather Service forecaster Paul Steward said temperatures should return to seasonal levels by the weekend. A Heat Advisory remains in effect through 8 p.m. Thursday.
No public statement from CUSD Superintendent Karl Mueller or a district spokesperson about the minimum-day decision appeared in available records. The district did not specify which campuses were affected or what the normal dismissal time would have been.
