GREENSBORO, N.C. — Fall-like temperatures are a welcome sign for Guilford County Schools.
Northeast Guilford Middle School is closed for 2 days because of HVAC issues.
The district said it's having a hard time hiring technicians.
It only has one technician for 200 facilities and 13 technician openings.
Some on the school board believe it has to do with pay.
"If you do the numbers, if I can go to HVAC central and make almost double what I would make here where do you think I'm going to go," said school board member T. Dianne Bellamy Small.
Now it's calling on outside help.
The school board approved contracts with two HVAC companies at its meeting.
The board is allocating $1.8 million to have two local companies make HVAC repairs, inspections, installations and 24-hour emergency repairs.
"I think this summer there was some good work in bringing some high school interns in and having them begin to train," said GCS Superintendent Whitney Oakley. "We're just not at the scale of the condition that our buildings are in so we can continue to expand certifications, credentials and use our own students and but we're crawling out of a deep hole."
Over the summer, they were able to complete 2,000 work orders and 25 major HVAC repairs.
The contract for the two companies goes up to five years.
The money will come from bonds and the general maintenance fund.
As for Northeast Middle, students are scheduled to return on Thursday.