My BP lives in my home and I'm quite frugal with my heating - in the daytime it's heated to 62F and since I got my snake I've programmed the heating to never allow temps to drop below 52F at night and when I'm out of the house.
I have a wooden 3x2x2ft glass fronted enclosure with just a 75w radiant heat panel over the hot side. It needed pillows and a duvet/comforter wrapped around the sides and tops to maintain a 90F hot spot and 77-80F cold end in 53F room temperature (my pulse-proportional t/stat runs at 50-80%). I'd never open the enclosure or handle my snake until the room is heated up though...
With regards to your situation - I have a feeling a classroom might be a scary situation for a BP; you should count on keeping the enclosure covered with an opaque sheet most of the time and have it in an out-of-the-way area.
Also - a healthy BP will tend to sleep/hide all day, and from what I hear they are best fed at night. Are there any other less-nocturnal species that you are considering?
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