Power outage at MMS

Jamie called me on her cell in the morning during school and my heart stopped. She was freezing as there was no heat at school and said please come get me. I had her uncle go and pick her up and it took him an hour standing in line to get a permit for her to leave. But they finally agreed to excuse the absence. We just stayed home today. Hopefully it will snow and be done with it. I have been so sick finally got an antibiotic to help.

Email to Parents - There were many factors in play with our situation today regarding the power outages. I was in communication with my head custodian, cafeteria manager, administrative team and office staff. We experienced four blackouts with most lasting over an hour. At 10:30 my cafeteria manager had enough food for 257 if the power did not come back on. In addition, even when power was restored, the heat was not turning on. With lunches only one hour away, my team made the decision to alert staff, students and parents of this situation. We decided that if parents wished to pick up their children knowing that there may be a heating and lunch issue, we would honor that decision. At no time did we cancel classes. We tried to get the word out as quickly as we could but many of our parents do not have electronic access and power was also out at homes. The message about the situation came mainly from the students calling home.

Of course, the power finally stabilized right before lunches and were we able to have enough food prepared for all just minutes before lunch. However, many parents were already arriving. I immediately went to parents to let them know that we were fully prepared to feed all students. Some parents decided to check out their students anyway since there was uncertainty to the power situation and heating of the school.

We apologize for any inconvenience of the day and hope you realize that we wanted everyone to be aware of the situation to make their own decision as to what would be best for their child. I have been in contact with the district to ensure all will go smoothly tomorrow if we experience such blackouts again. We have food being delivered that does not have to be cooked and teachers have alternate lesson plans ready. We will continue to work on out systems for a more efficient process. Thank you for your understanding.

Kimiko Cartwright
Principal, Murchison Middle School.