Water Service Outage Affecting Parts Of Eudora Kean High; D.O.E Says Matter Being Addressed

ST. THOMAS — The Ivanna Eudora Kean High School was dismissed at noon on Monday due to a water service outage affecting the school, the Department of Education announced late Tuesday. As crews and other personnel work to address the issue, classes will remain in session, D.O.E. said.

D.O.E. said its St. Thomas-St. John district maintenance division contacted the Water and Power Authority and several plumbing companies to help identify the cause of the interruption, which is reported to be a break and leaks in underground lines servicing the building that houses the majority of students and faculty.

According to Keva Muller, director of public relations at D.O.E., on Friday the students were dismissed because the entire school had no water. However, mitigation efforts have been made where crews were able to restore service to a large part of the campus. Ms. Muller said crews were working into the night Tuesday to fix the problem.

The latest issue involves only two or three restrooms on the main campus, Ms. Muller said, adding that the kitchen was able to serve lunch. Furthermore, she stated, the distance from the main campus and usable restrooms was not great.

D.O.E. said it understood the inconvenience to faculty, staff and students, but stressed that crews were working to address the matter.

As plumbing work continues and progress is made, an update will be released to the public, according to the release.