Holly Springs High School, Hortons Creek Elementary School and Green Hope Elementary School all sent students home early on Friday due to air conditioning problems.

Green Hope Elementary School dismissed at noon, becoming the fourth Wake County school to send students home early on Friday and the eighth this week.

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The following Wake County schools released early Friday due to HVAC issues:

  • Holly Springs High School dismissed students at 11:15 a.m.
    • Rogers Lane Elementary School dismissed at 11:30 a.m.
      • Green Hope Elementary dismissed at 12 p.m.
        • Hortons Creek Elementary School in Cary dismissed at 12:45 p.m.

          School buses will provide transportation home for students who ride by bus, and parents can pick up their students using the normal procedure. Staff will remain on campus with students until they are picked up.

          Elementary students will be served lunch before school is released. For the high school, students participating in fall sports will receive a message from their coach about afternoon practice or games. All other clubs, activities and meetings are canceled.

          Parents should contact the school office with questions or concerns.

          On Wednesday, Sanderson High School and Wakefield Middle School dismissed students early because there was no air conditioning in the building. On Thursday, Wakefield High School in Raleigh and Willow Spring High School in Fuquay-Varina also dismissed early due to air conditioning problems.

          WRAL News has reported extensively on HVAC issues in Wake County Public Schools.

          Wake Schools closed more than 40 times in the past year due to failing HVAC systems. According to the district, staffing and the age of their equipment are the main concerns.

          The district has 148 units that are due for replacement or will be in the next five years. As work orders come in, the district only has about half of its available HVAC positions filled to respond to them.

          "We have all of our qualified staff and then some out working on the schools," said Mark Strickland, the chief of facilities and operations with Wake County Public School System. "We’ve also got a variety of contracted vendors that are local that are working on the schools as well."

          Meanwhile, the school system had about 2,900 emergency worker orders last year related to HVAC issues. Another 2,300 work orders last were labeled “urgent.”

          About half — seven — of the Wake County Public School System’s 15 heating, ventilation and air conditioning staff positions are vacant.

          The system’s two chiller technician positions have been vacant for years. Many prospective employees interview but turn down job offers once they realize the pay, Nate Slavik, district senior director of maintenance and operations, told the school board’s facilities committee Tuesday.