MILWAUKEE -- A high school on Milwaukee's South Side closed Tuesday because of a water main break.
Grandview High School near 13th and Cleveland closed because the water needed to be shut off while DPW crews worked to fix the break.
"We just received word that they plan to be on site in an hour and all our water will be shut off," Debi Harry, the school's principal said. "Our building will be without water and obviously, this is now a safety concern as this is our main entrance."
DPW says the Grandview High School water main leak is one of four they were dealing with Tuesday morning, and one of seven other main breaks they worked on through the night. In 2019, they've had 88 main breaks which is similar to the five and 10-year average for February (89).
Water spilled out of the concrete and into their parking lot. Luckily, a drain in the middle of the lot prevented it from pooling and freezing over completely. However, with the water turned off, they made the decision to close school for the day.
"We've lost enough days," Harry said. "Hopefully, it's back in business as soon as tomorrow."
MPS has missed several days this year due to snow and cold. With more snow in the forecast, another unexpected day off is not exactly what students want to hear.
"I feel terrible because people who are not graduating are going to have to stay longer," Donny Davis, a senior said. "Us being seniors, after we graduate, we may still have to come back to school to get those days done."
Grandview does have one benefit other MPS schools do not. Students are able to login from home and do work. If a certain percentage of students do so, the off-day won't count against them.
"As much fun as it might be to be off of school, we still need them to do work," Harry said. "We have a lot of work to cover with all these lost snow days. We sent out a sky alert saying to the kids to login."
"It's not really an off-day because I'm still goign to go home and do work," Davis said. "It's like non-stop working. Work, work, work. That's what I got to do."
DPW crews expect to fix the main by the end of Tuesday and school should be back in session Wednesday, depending on snowfall.
"The major loss is not having our kids in the building," Harry said. "We're ending a trimester and we're done on Friday with exams. We've lost too much time this month. I can't wait to see them back tomorrow."
