Paris Schools Get 50 Chinese ACs in 44°C Heatwave

What did the Paris mayor do about the school heatwave?

Geoffroy Boulard, mayor of Paris's 17th arrondissement, ordered 50 Chinese-made air conditioners for public schools in his district. He posted a video on X showing the deployment. Classroom temperatures in France had climbed as high as 44°C, according to Global Times reporting on the emergency purchase.

The move came as an intense heatwave gripped much of western Europe in late June 2026. Few schools in France or Britain are equipped with air conditioning, leaving officials scrambling for fast solutions.

Why don't European schools have air conditioning?

Until recently, most European school years ended before the worst summer heat arrived. British and French schools finish in July — later than most U.S. schools, but still before the peak heat of August.

Climate change has pushed extreme temperatures earlier in the year. That means students are now sitting in aging buildings designed to hold in warmth, not keep out heat. As the New York Times reported, many of London's school buildings are decades or over a century old.

"You're putting kids in a greenhouse for six hours a day," said Pete Lynch, principal at Sheldon School in Chippenham, southwestern England. His state-funded school closed early on Tuesday and stayed closed Wednesday and Thursday.

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How hot did it get inside classrooms?

A seven-year-old student in London, Raya Petrova, described the experience plainly: "I feel like I'm in an oven. It is really hot."

Teachers in France covered windows with blankets or chalk and let children play in water outside. In England, students were simply grateful to take off their shoes.

Are schools staying open or closing?

Education officials in both countries are caught between two pressures. Closing schools means lost learning days. Keeping them open means children sitting in dangerous heat — conditions that research shows can hurt learning outcomes and test scores.

Most schools in Britain and France stayed open during the heatwave. Some, like Sheldon School in Chippenham, made the call to close early or for multiple days. Parents, teachers, and officials remain divided on the right approach.

What role are Chinese manufacturers playing?

Here's what we know so far: the Paris district's emergency purchase of Chinese-made units is one visible sign of rising European demand for Chinese air conditioners during the heatwave. The Global Times noted that the story sparked discussion among Chinese internet users about Chinese products and manufacturing capacity.

The New York Times issued a correction on its original coverage, clarifying that Paris was buying air-conditioning units — not fans — for its schools. That distinction matters given the scale of the heat emergency.

This story sits at an intersection familiar to the iCharles community. Rapid procurement decisions driven by extreme conditions — whether in AI model access policy or physical infrastructure — often expose gaps that built up over years. The same pressure dynamic playing out in European classrooms echoes in how companies scramble when AI expansion forces sudden infrastructure pivots. And just as trusted-partner release strategies reflect supply constraints, so does a mayor posting a video on X to show he sourced 50 AC units overnight.

What are teachers and students doing to cope?

Schools without AC have tried a range of low-tech measures:

• Covering windows with blankets or chalk to block sunlight
• Letting children play in water outside
• Allowing students to remove shoes in class
• Opening windows to encourage airflow
• Distributing ice pops to students during lessons (reported at an elementary school in Grays, England)

Some schools also shortened their days or closed entirely for multiple days, as Sheldon School in Chippenham did.

What happens next?

The most confirmed next step from the sources: 50 Chinese-made air conditioners are being installed in schools in Paris's 17th arrondissement. The heatwave was continuing to grip much of western Europe as of late June 2026, with millions of students still in session in un-air-conditioned classrooms across Britain and France.