Running water at Greenwood Middle School’s campus has been shut off since Monday to allow the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District’s maintenance department to fix a water leak on the building’s main water line.
Dr. Kenneth Pulley, the deputy superintendent, said Tuesday that the district was notified by a member of the public Sunday afternoon that a leak could be seen from outside of the building.
By Monday morning, district officials made the decision to shut off water at the middle school in order for the water leak to be fixed, Pulley said. Because additional assistance is required, commercial plumbers have been hired to remedy the situation.
The leak should be fixed sometime midday Wednesday, which means that the campus will once again have running water, the deputy superintendent said. He added that no water leaks have been noticed inside the building. The school’s campus remained opened for in-person instruction Monday and Tuesday but without running water.
“In an effort to keep students in school, meals were adjusted, bottled water was provided and PPE (personal protective equipment) supplies, such as hand sanitizer was also provided,” the deputy superintendent said.
The restrooms of Greenwood High School’s football stadium, which still has running water and is located right next to the middle school, were made available for the school’s students and personnel, Pulley said.
School district officials previously had the authority to issue school campus emergency closures. That changed in September after the school board voted to adopt a policy that required the board’s approval prior to emergency closures, meaning the school board would have to hold special called meetings to approve these closures.
Pulley would not comment on if the new rule affected a possible emergency closure for Greenwood Middle School.
Instead, he answered with the following statement: “Due to the unexpected situation, we considered all options and determined that because we could adjust the meals, because we could provide the bottled drinking water, because we had the PPE supplies available and because we had the restroom facilities in an extremely close proximity to the building, the decision was made to allow the school building to remain open to continue in-person instruction.”
- Contact Gerard Edic at 662-581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
