By Kenedi Patin, Staff Writer
On the first day back from winter break students going to class in the D-Wing likely noticed major construction being done on the ground in between the portables and the main D-Wing building.
According to one of the crew members working on the repair, a water pipe blew into a gas line and exploded a couple days before students were supposed to return from break. Mr. Ernesto Granados, who teaches in the portables, also shared that the explosion “could have been fatal if students were near.” As a result, heating was temporarily off in the D-Wing, 50s classrooms, and portable classrooms.
On January 2, the day before returning to school, Principal Andrea Egan sent an alert about the facilities issue to students and families. “I’m encouraging students to dress warmly for classes they have in this part of the school” Students mentioned they were cold in their classes but generally this issue didn’t disrupt learning.
On January 3 a crew of SCUSD workers arrived to fix the piping. Heat was restored in the portable classrooms before school started and the workers said they expected heat in the 50s classrooms to return midday on Monday, while heat would likely be fixed in the D-Wing building by the end of the day.
The crew brought free standing heaters to go in all the classrooms that were affected. By Tuesday the heating in the school had been fully restored.