With the warmer than normal temperatures this week the Knoxville School District has dismissed school two hours early Tuesday through today. Knoxville School Superintendent Cassi Pearson tells KNIA/KRLS News how the district determines if school needs to be let out early due to the heat. She says the district takes into account both the air temperature and humidity as well as the National Weather Service’s Heat Index chart. Pearson says if the Heat Index at the schools reach the Extreme Caution category, that is when the district decides to dismiss students early. According to Pearson the district also takes into account how long students would be subjected to the heat throughout the day as another factor taken into consideration. She says Monday was a two-hour late start so students were not at school in the heat for the normal seven hour day. Pearson says between 300 and 400 of the districts 1700 students are unable to be in air condition rooms as only West Elementary and the High School have air conditioning in all classrooms. She says as of now, the district is in no jeopardy of having to make any time up as the district still has over 20 hours of alloted time to work with. To hear the complete interview with Pearson tune in to today’s Let’s Talk Knoxville.