by Kate Shunney
Warm Springs Intermediate School has been closed to students and faculty for four days as a major electrical problem shut down power to the building completely.
Students at the county’s grade 3-5 school have been out of the classroom last Wednesday through Friday, and then again on Monday, September 28. School officials were hopeful of a Tuesday reopening.
“The power outage occurred early Wednesday morning. We had a roof leak that caused the main switchgear to malfunction which then caused the outage,” said Morgan County Schools Superintendent David Banks in an email to The Morgan Messenger.
photo by Kate Shunney
MEC Inc. Electrical Construction of Hagerstown, Md. is the contractor working on the power issue.
“Contractors are at the school with Potomac Edison to ensure we can safely reopen the school,” said Banks.
In a message to parents on Sunday, September 27, Morgan County Schools said Warm Springs Intermediate School would be “closed for in-person learning” on Monday “due to the continued power outage.”
Students were transitioning to Non-Traditional instruction on Monday, the message said. That means they would be having a school day from home, including assignments from their teachers.
Superintendent Banks told The Morgan Messenger on Monday that staff from the school coordinated a Chromebook and assignment pickup for parents on Monday. Students are issued Chromebook laptops from the county.
“Staff have been supporting other schools and assigning classwork through our communication platform DOJO,” said Banks.
“We are extremely hopeful that we will be back in school tomorrow,” he said Monday.
