Water From Bathroom Urinal Floods Lake Worth High School, Classes Out Until Feb. 14
TARRANT COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) - Water from a bathroom urinal flooded Lake Worth High School forcing the district to cancel school until Feb. 14.
The flooding, discovered by a band director Friday afternoon, impacted the main entrance of the high school, front offices and classrooms.
The second floor, auditorium and gym were not damaged, but Superintendent Dr. Rose Mary Neshyba said there still wasn't enough classroom space to move students to. The impacted section of the school has to be sealed off to properly dry it out so the district decided to shut down and bring students back when the job is done.
Neshyba said it wasn't clear yet exactly what happened to cause the urinal to flood. Cameras showed no one was in the building after 6 p.m. Thursday, and water didn't appear on cameras until about midnight Friday. After the discovery Friday afternoon, maintenance crews and restoration teams worked into the early morning Saturday getting the water out.
Carpets and baseboards have to be removed, but there is no drywall in the flooded section to repair.
The school board met in a special meeting Monday morning and voted on a calendar change for high school students. The district lost three days of school this year to COVID, and two days to the storm last week. It had two more days of flexibility, but Neshyba said it was important to have students in the classroom.
"Our kids need to be in school, they need to be in front of teachers, and we need that time with them," she said.
High school students will now attend class on Feb. 18, Feb. 21, March 21 and May 27.
Food services provided breakfast and lunch for students to pick up Monday, to last through Tuesday. It planned to provide more meals Wednesday to provide food to students who needed it through the rest of the week.