LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — More than 500 students, faculty, and staff from Sullivan West Elementary School were evacuated to the high school campus after the Village of Jeffersonville lost water again and forced the school’s closure for two days.

Superintendent Dr. Nancy Hackett said that the October 19 evacuation was unprecedented in that the mid-day timing was not conducive to sending students home and the shelters identified in their emergency plans also had no water to keep them safe and comfortable locally.

Board of education member Ken Cohen said that the administrative decision to transport the entire elementary school body to Lake Huntington to watch “Horton Hears a Who” in the auditorium caused some upset in the community.

“Things didn’t exactly go as planned because there is no plan for this. There were definitely some outraged parents,” Cohen said at the October 20 school board meeting.

Elementary school officials observed the loss of water last Wednesday at approximately 11:30 a.m. and notified the village.

“We’re the first to know, being located at the highest point in Jeffersonville,” Dr. Hackett said.

The school went about its business, serving spaghetti lunches in the cafeteria that keeps extra water supplies on hand and resuming classes. Happiness at seeing the water restored turned into dismay when it came back at such high pressure that it blew through some weaker connections before it quit again.

“By now it was about 1 p.m. and we were up against a time crunch,” Hackett said.

Bus drivers require 60 to 90 minutes’ notice to appear since they are often at other locations between morning arrival and close of school departure times.

Rather than having students wait for dismissal to their guardians or by bus without water for bathrooms, drinking fountains and fire protection, Dr. Hackett said they rounded up the eight available buses to take everyone to the high school.

“This was not anything—in any way, shape, or form—that we ever practiced, but we have an incredible staff and appreciate the patience of the community,” she said.

Both school campuses were closed the next day to allow for continued repairs of the water system in Jeffersonville. While the high school was not directly impacted, many of the older students are caregivers of younger siblings.

Dr. Hackett said that they are now conducting internal and external meetings to discuss how this incident was handled and what mitigation measures can be taken.

“What is the village’s plan?” asked Board Vice-President Rose Joyce-Turner, “Because this has happened too frequently. Obviously the pipes are really old.”

Dr. Hackett replied that the October 19 problem occurred due to construction work by a Sullivan County crew. A January 7 water loss closure that required subsequent contamination clearances was attributed to a freeze break in a Village of Jeffersonville water line caused by mechanical failure at the Briscoe pump house.

She said it does raise the issue for the board’s Facility Needs Committee of whether the village’s infrastructure is sufficient to support the school’s capacity.

Board member Ralph Huggler asked why the district doesn’t install a large water storage tank on-site. Another option on the table could be to drill a secondary well.

In terms of emergency planning when local shelters are not feasible for reasons such as lacking water, board member Trevor Peachey asked what would happen if the road were blocked from Jeffersonville to Lake Huntington.

“We don’t have a back-up to the back-up,” Dr. Hackett admitted.