MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — School officials will release all base students earlier than usual Friday due to the ongoing heat wave that’s left kids and staff sweltering in classrooms with no air conditioning.

Students at Sollars and Cummings elementary schools and Edgren High School will be released at 12:35 Friday, according to a note sent home to parents Thursday afternoon.

School and base officials also are discussing possible changes to the school schedule next week if high temperatures continue.

Misawa registered a high of 86.5 on Thursday, with humidity rates in the low 80s. Temperatures are expected to rise the next few days, according to the Aomori Meteorological Observatory.

Japan is experiencing its hottest summer since officials began tracking temperatures in 1898, according to a Japan Times report Thursday. Average temperatures at 61 of Japan’s 154 observatories either set or surpassed record temperatures in the last three months, according to the Japan Times report.

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