LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — Being at the top is a goal for every school district, but not when it results in an emergency closure and concerns over potential contamination of the water supply.

Sullivan West Central School District (SWCSD) Superintendent Dr. Nancy Hackett cancelled school at both district campuses January 7 after a “freeze break” of a water line in the Village of Jeffersonville shut off water flow to the elementary school, which increased the chances of potential contamination from the sudden loss of pressure.

The elementary school was the best place to start investigating the outage’s cause because it sits at the highest elevation of buildings served by the village’s public water supply.

“It’s a unique setting for us being at the highest point in that town. They had to search the entire building. By 11 a.m., they knew it wasn’t us,” Dr. Hackett reported at the January 21 SWCSD Board of Education meeting.

While Sullivan West High School in Lake Huntington wasn’t affected, Dr. Hackett said she decided to dismiss the entire district “because having four-year-olds to sixth-graders home alone is not good,” and the unexpected closing would have forced parents and caregivers to scramble to make arrangements for their children when the news broke that morning.

She said if the situation had been reversed, so that the high school campus had to close due to a water outage, elementary classes would have proceeded.

The school was allowed to re-open on January 8, but with a water drinking and use advisory imposed by the New York State Department of Health.

The building’s water fountains and sinks were temporarily sealed. Bottled water and hand sanitizers were distributed.

Dr. Hackett said the inconvenience was transformed into a teachable moment for students as lessons about water resources were quickly incorporated into the day’s curriculum.

“The staff and faculty were amazing. It was a Friday and we decided to ‘go with the flow’,” she said.

Outage cause

Contacted after the board of education meeting, the licensed operator for the Village of Jeffersonville’s public water system explained that a heater at the Briscoe pump house had succumbed to the sustained cold temperatures.

“It was a mechanical failure,” said Tom Gain. “There was no way to avoid that. That pump is only used for emergencies so we’re not there all the time. The most affected was the school because of the elevation. We’re sorry they had to close but it’s a public building and there are state regulations we have to follow.”

Once the cause was identified and repaired, Gain said, “It took some time for the system to recover. Out of an abundance of caution, we issued a ‘boil water’ advisory.”

The intervening weekend allowed time for two consecutive tests to be conducted for bacterial contamination. When they came back clean, the Department of Health lifted the advisory as school resumed on Monday, January 11.

Board business

Dr. Hackett advised the school board as of January 21 that the January 7 water outage was the first of only two “snow days” that the district has used this season of their eight-day allotment.

The second closing occurred on January 14 for accumulating snow that took highway departments by surprise and found many roads unplowed in the eight towns where students reside.

In other business, the board:

€ Approved seeking bids for the first phase of technology infrastructure upgrades to come under the district’s $1,244,000 Smart Schools Investment Plan;

€ Extended appreciation to Sergio Garcia-Marruz of Buck Brook for donating to the district equipment valued at $11,251 to set up a music recording studio; and

€ Accepted the retirement resignations of: Bobbie Allees (art teacher); Susan Barsky (assistant elementary principal); Sharon R. Fife (special education teacher); Carol Simonetti (elementary teacher); Rose Stachowiak (special education teacher); and Diane G. Staves (physical education teacher), effective at the end of this school year.