DUNWOODY, Ga. - Students at Dunwoody High School will shift to virtual learning for the remainder of the week to allow maintenance crews to complete repairs on faulty water valves, according to school officials.
What we know:
In a letter sent to staff and families, Principal Tom Bass outlined three issues impacting the campus this week and the steps being taken to resolve them.
Bass said the school experienced water valve issues that led to discolored water in several areas of the building. Bottled water was brought on site for students, staff and cafeteria kitchen use, while school restrooms remained fully operational.
The water issue also temporarily affected HVAC systems in parts of the building, but Bass confirmed those units have since been repaired, inspected and returned to cooling.
To allow maintenance crews to conduct necessary water valve repairs, students, teachers, and instructional staff will transition to asynchronous virtual learning on Thursday and Friday.
Essential staff will remain on campus to maintain operations. All scheduled before- and after-school campus activities, athletic events and extracurriculars will continue as planned Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Bass also addressed concerns raised by families regarding possible mold inside the school's portable classrooms. Officials confirmed that the substance is not mold, but noted the school will conduct professional air quality testing out of an abundance of caution.
What we don't know:
District officials have not detailed what caused the water valves to fail or identified the exact substance found in the portable classrooms.
It also remains unclear when the pending air quality testing results will be returned to the district.
What's next:
Students will complete remote coursework through Friday while repairs are underway. Normal in-person instruction is expected to resume next week following the completion of water valve work.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by an official communication to families from Dunwoody High School Principal Tom Bass, distributed by the DeKalb County School District.