School board jumps to action after water pipe break

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

Close to 400 students and staff were left without drinking water or toilet usage in the early hours of Monday, Jan. 15 at the Wheatland Crossing School.
Shortly after 8 a.m. when school buses had already dropped off students and staff arrived at the facility, Golden Hills School Division No. 75 (GHSD) was informed the school was experiencing a water pipe break and there was no pressure or water leading to the toilets or drinking fountains.
While the maintenance department spent the day investigating the situation, the school was able to carry on with their day by using bottled water, making slight adjustments to their lunch program, using antiseptic wipes and bringing in water to flush toilets manually.
Although some parents voiced their concerns that the school should have closed down for the day, the school board weighed their options – disrupting the school day by trying to accommodate every child’s needs and safe transportation, or provide the necessities to cause the least amount of interruption.
“Had we known at 4 a.m. this morning that we had no water we would not have run buses and let everyone know we have a water break,” said Bevan Daverne, superintendent for GHSD, on Jan. 15. “But because we already had kids being dropped off at the school and our buses were already arriving by the time we understood what the situation was, it was already too late.
“We had to make a decision in everyone’s best interest moving forward,” he added.
Wheatland Crossing School was closed on Tuesday, Jan. 16 for waterline repairs.
The incident is only one of several issues the board has faced in recent weeks. Over the holidays, a school in Three Hills also experienced a water pipe break that left a portion of the school without water. And in Drumheller, a vehicle drove into a school building after failing to stop at a stop sign.
Daverne suspected that the cold weather played a factor in the water pipe’s break.
“Safety of students and health concern is always our number one issue … if we were not able to deal with the issues at school, we would have no choice but to start organizing and have parents pick up their kids. But given that we were able to manage that in a way that is reasonable and works, we got through the day. It’s inconvenient for us certainly but it’ll be relatively normal for everybody else.”