HOUSTON – Some students and teachers are still feeling the impact of last week’s extreme winter weather. The damage to a number of school campuses has forced some school districts to extend their closures.
Tomball Independent School District
Busted pipes from the fire suppression system sent 10,000 gallons of water gushing out of the second floor ceiling in a wing of Tomball Memorial High School. The result was extensive damage to classrooms on both the second and first floors. The main hallways along with classroom after classroom were covered in about an inch of water.
Maintenance crews removed many of the drenched and waterlogged ceiling panels and strategically placed dehumidifiers and fans throughout the damaged areas in an effort to dry everything out. Tomball Memorial High School was one of at least six schools in the district that sustained some kind of damage during the sub-freezing temperatures.
Repairs should be finished by March 8.
Houston Independent School District
The recent subfreezing weather conditions resulted in more than 500 requests for service from HISD facilities. Many of the service calls were for frozen pipes, leaks, and heating system repairs.
Water service has returned to most HISD campuses. Repair crews are working at Briscoe Elementary, Elrod Elementary, Fondren Elementary, Henry Middle, Key Middle, Law Elementary, Long Academy, Pilgrim Elementary, Robinson Elementary, Thomas Middle, and Young Elementary. We are expecting service to return before the end of the week. Ongoing repairs at Durham Elementary are expected to be completed next week.
Power to Houston Independent School District campuses is restored to every location.
Network connectivity repairs are ongoing at one HISD campus and three support facilities. This work will not interfere with students transitioning to asynchronous virtual learning on Wednesday through Friday. All repairs are expected to be completed before students who are engaged in face-to-face learning return to class on March 1.
Custodians are back to work and are making our schools ready for the return of students and staff.