Students were sent home early from Mingus Union High School Tuesday, Sept. 10, at around 9:30, after a power line problem at 760 West 4th St. led to a blackout at the school starting at about 8:45. According to Superintendent Mike Westcott, the school tried to keep classes going even after the power went out, sending students to first and second period, before deciding to end the school day early.
“The estimated time of return to power was still after noon at that point, so with all things considered, we decided to go ahead and call it,” Westcott said.
The power outage also led to the school’s internet [including the district website] going down, as well as the school’s phone system and water. After the power came back on, it took staff an additional half hour to get the internet and phones working, and more time afterwards to get the water system back online.
According to Westcott, the school was able to get the kids home from school without much trouble, every bus route running within half an hour of dismissal. He credited the district’s ability to message all teachers directly, even with the PA system down, with allowing the school to manage things efficiently.
Westcott said that the school calendar had some extra days budgeted, and does not see any reason to worry about consequences of the disrupted school calendar.
Mingus intends to be open as usual tomorrow and the rest of the week.
