PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Portland Public Schools (PPS) students got an early start to the Labor Day weekend after the district implemented a two-hour early dismissal due to extreme heat on Friday.

According to PPS on Thursday, classroom temperatures reached “unsafe” levels this week, in some cases leading to heat-related illnesses for both students and staff.

“My son’s classroom, which is in a brick box, started the week in the 80s, and yesterday afternoon it was 92 degrees,” said Maya Pueo Von Geldren, a PPS parent and substitute administrative assistant.

Von Geldren said she was shocked by how much cooler it was outside than inside when she entered Vernon K-8 School this week.

Of the 81 Portland schools, only 18 are equipped with air conditioning, and Vernon is not one of them.

In ol

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