The new Aug. 1 start date for Metro Nashville schools means that students will face an extra two weeks of sultry bus rides.
The only air conditioned buses operated by the district are those that carry medically fragile or special needs children.
"It is hot, and it's not a lot of fun," said Fred Carr, the chief operating officer for Metro schools.
Carr said that a few weeks ago, when Nashville hit 109 degrees, the school system ran a series of tests to see just how hot the buses get.
"The highest temperature on a parked bus was 114 degrees, on a day when the air temperature was 105 and there wasn't a cloud in the sky," Carr said.
He said the temperatures dropped an average of four to five degrees as soon as the buses started rolling with the windows open.
Metro's tests verified what school bus manufacturers have known for a while - that buses with roofs painted white average about five degrees cooler inside than buses with the roofs painted yellow. Carr said about 95 percent of Metro's bus fleet have white roofs.
Carr said the school doesn't retrofit its buses with air conditioners because of the expense - it costs about $12,000 per bus. Installing air conditioning to the entire bus fleet would cost an estimated $6.6 million, Carr said.
He said the school system monitors temperatures and the heat index in order to make sure no students health is jeopardized.
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