2:14 p.m. AirNow registers 151. Orange tips to red. The district server fires an alert to 11,000 phones before any human reads the number.
The principal pulls recess indoors. The athletic director cancels practice. Six coaches scramble for gym space. The custodian closes every window in the building, then checks whether the HVAC is rated to keep running or needs to be killed entirely. Bus drivers switch to recirculate. The nurse pulls asthma action plans from a cabinet nobody opens in October.
Parents who can leave work do. Parents who can't start texting.
