Students sent home by flooding
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A water pipe connected to the sprinkler system burst late Monday night or early Tuesday morning leaving some parts of the school in 6-inch deep water.
“I had to pinch myself,” said janitor Anthony Roberts, the first person to arrive at the school Tuesday morning. “When I saw all that water, I thought I was dreaming.”
School at Hickory Creek was canceled and students were sent home, although teachers stayed to help clean up the mess.
“I bet none of us go home soon. We have a lot of work to do,” teacher Sherry Graves said Tuesday morning. “We requested a swimming pool a few years ago and we finally got one.”
Director of Schools Dr. Jerry Hale said classes will resume today at Hickory Creek.
“There’s a whole lot less water there than there was,” said Hale after leaving the school yesterday around noon. “As of right now, I think we’ve gotten to the point where we can have school so that’s the plan.”
The sprinkler pipe that burst is located above a drop ceiling in the fourth-grade hallway. Water poured down into the hall and from there spread to nearly every classroom.
The water coming from the ceiling was under such high pressure it stripped paint off the wall. But since water didn’t enter any classrooms from overhead, nothing on desks was damaged.
“Those pipes are tested every year,” said maintenance supervisor Donnie Caldwell. “So this is a freak thing that happened. I know all the workers with the maintenance department really appreciate the help from Hickory Creek teachers. This was a mess.”
No one is sure the exact time the pipe burst. A janitor was reportedly at the school working until 10 p.m. Monday night. Roberts reported to work to find the flood at 5:45 a.m. Tuesday morning.
The school’s regular water supply that feeds sinks, water fountains and commodes was never disrupted.