The early dismissal decision is also raising renewed concerns about longstanding funding issues in the district.
"It's disappointing because as a working parent, school hours already don't coincide with work hours, and so to suddenly find out half the day is gone is frustrating," one parent expressed to Action News.
The School District of Philadelphia notified families and staff Monday that in-person afterschool activities are canceled and students will be dismissed early as temperatures are expected to reach 90 degrees.
Early childhood programs located within the affected schools will also be dismissed early.
"You can't leave the kids. You just gotta sacrifice, change plans, make arrangements to come get them, said Nadine Sallins.
Felicia Jones runs her own small business in Overbrook Park. She is among parents who have to work.
"I talked to the daycare. They're willing to pick her up early," Jones said. "It kind of feels like everyone is working together to work it out for the kids."
In a statement, the district says that while significant progress has been made toward ensuring schools are adequately cooled, there are still several schools with inadequate cooling systems.
Parents said the abrupt change creates challenges at home and highlights broader infrastructure problems.
Marcia McFadden, of Mount Airy, said, "It would be hard for them to learn in the heat, so I understand the early dismissal."
Still, she believes the district should prioritize installing proper air conditioning "so they can get the full education that day."
A Fairmount mother echoed that sentiment, saying, "At this day and age, to have schools shut down because they don't have central air or air conditioning, it's disappointing."
Arthur Steinberg, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said the schedule change affects educators as well.
"You have your lesson plans for the week and a game plan for what you're going to do, and it gets you off schedule immediately," he said.
Steinberg attributed the issue to chronic underfunding.
"Fix schools instead of closing them and then we can avoid these difficulties in the future," he said.
Back In 2024, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts donated $200,000 to purchase air conditioning units for 10 Philadelphia schools, but others remain without sufficient cooling.
"What I'm hoping for is by next year, hopefully, they'll have air in there and, hopefully, this won't be an issue," Jones said.
The district said it continues to repair school buildings but has shifted from immediate, isolated renovations to broader, long-term projects planned over the next 10 years.
Full List of 52 Affected Schools:
-AMY Northwest
-Bache-Martin*
-Blaine, James*
-Building 21
-Catharine, Joseph*
-Comegys, B.
-Comly, Watson
-Cooke, J.
-Crossan, Kennedy
-Disston, Hamilton**
-Dunbar, Paul**
-Emlen, Eleanor*
-Fell, D Newlin
-Fox Chase
-Franklin, Ben HS
-Girard, Stephen
-Harding, Warren
-Henry, Charles
-Hill-Freedman
-Hopkinson, Francis
-Houston, Henry
-Howe, Julia
-Jenks, Abram
-Jenks, John S
-Lamberton*
-Lingelbach, Anna
-Loesche*
-Ludlow, James
-McCloskey, John
-McClure, A.*(**)
-McMichael, M.*
-Mitchell, Weir
-Moore, J. Hampton
-MYA
-Olney Elementary
-Overbrook ES
-Parkway West
-Patterson, John*
-Rhawnhurst*
-Rowen, William
-Roxborough HS
-Sayre, William
-Sharswood, George*
-Sheppard, Issac
-South Phila. HS*
-Spring Garden
-Spruance, Gilbert*
-Sullivan, James
-Tilden, William**
-The U School
-Wagner, Gen. Louis
-Washington, Martha
(*) Schools have PreK/Head Start on-site.
(**) Schools are ED/EY schools