At Pilot Butte Middle School, the heat is on (again)

It’s been a cold few days around Bend — and colder still at Bend’s Pilot Butte Middle School, where a heater problem has meant bundling up indoors, even in the classrooms.

But a fix has been made, Principal Steven Stancliff told parents in an email late Wednesday afternoon.

Stancliff said students had been “amazing” in coping with the lack of heat for three of the past four days.

“It’s obviously no fun to be in a cold classroom, and it certain makes it more difficult to learn,” he wrote. “Our students have been incredibly resilient and tough, and they have done their best to remain engaged and focused on learning.”

The principal told parents a fix is in place for warm classrooms and buildings until winter break, when a failing component of the heating system will be replaced.

The “next and final step,” Stancliff wrote, is a complete overhaul of the heating system as part of a bond-funded project next spring.

The principal thanked students for their “patience and resilience,” as well as the school staff, “who have made the best of a difficult situation.”