Officials are blaming state and federal budget cuts for a broken heating system at a Bridgeport day care center.

The main classrooms at St. Mark’s Daycare Center on Newfield Avenue were seeing temperatures as low as 56 degrees Friday, well below the 64 degree minimum required by state law.

Frankie White, the director of the center, tells News 12 Connecticut that the children were moved out of those classrooms and brought to the basement, where the heating system is still working.

White tells News 12 that the issue has been frustrating, especially because she doesn’t have the resources to properly correct it.

The day care has begun an emergency fundraiser to fix the heating system.

Education expert Dennis Bradley says publicly funded day cares perform a critical function and that there should be enough funding to fix a broken heating system.