HeatReady schools: A novel approach to enhance adaptive capacity to heat through school community experiences, risks, and perceptions

The current landscape of heat safety culture in schools has received little attention in the literature. HeatReady Schools are those that are increasingly able to identify, prepare for, mitigate, track, and respond to the negative impacts of schoolground heat. This study set out to 1) improve our understanding of heat perceptions, reactions and actions, and heat safety recommendations of key stakeholders, and 2) identify themes from expert stakeholder responses to gauge the effectiveness of their heat preparedness levels in their current school environment. These objectives are focused on school heat readiness and child heat vulnerability in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. An exploratory sequential mixed-methods case study approach was used. Methods focused on acquiring new insight into heat perceptions at elementary schools through semi-structured interviews using thematic analysis and a repeatable Delphi panel approach. Participants included public health professionals and school community members in Central City South (CCS) and South Mountain Village (SMV) in Phoenix, Arizona. Findings demonstrate that 1) heat safety resources are available but not fully utilized within the schools, 2) expert opinions support extreme heat readiness plans accounting for site-specific needs, particularly education, and 3) students are negatively impacted by extreme heat, whether direct or indirect, both inside and outside the classroom. Thirty final recommendations were developed as important school “HeatReady” actions that can be applied or adapted for other school contexts and/or climate regions. Future work will apply these recommendations in a HeatReady School Growth Tool that schools can tailor to their individual needs for heat safety, risk management, and adaptive capacity.