SISSONVILLE, W.Va. — Kanawha County Schools are waiting on parts from overseas to fix Sissonville High School’s electrical panel that went bad.
The electrical issues at the school have forced the school system to close it until next Friday, Feb. 1.
“Currently they are unable to have any kind of power for lights, heat, everything,” Briana Warner, the Kanawha County Schools Communications Director, said. “The parts needed, even though they are being expedited, they are coming from overseas. Even with our request for that to be expedited, the best they could do is an estimate of Wednesday for those parts to be in.”
Warner said the electrical panel is from the 1960’s so it will take time for the parts to come in despite KCS’ request for them to be expedited. She said before ordering the parts, the school hired a third party electrical engineer to look at the situation and get another recommendation.
Next Friday is not a guarantee for Sissonville to reopen but a “best estimate,” per Warner. After being prepared to get the parts in on Wednesday, the school system hopes to have the maintenance done on Thursday before opening on Friday.
“We are really hoping to be able to get the parts in on time,” Warner said. “Then have the time necessary to get it repaired and then be able to go back to school on Friday.”
Sissonville High School has been closed since Tuesday because of the issue but Warner said students are still working.
“We have our Learning 20-20 iPad initiative and we have our learning management system which is called Schoology,” she said. “On any given day on any given time, even at home, students are able to log in to their Schoology account and connect with their teachers. A lot of teachers are posting course information in those classes, some are posting assignments.”
This is not the first time during the 2018-2019 school year that a school in Kanawha County has closed for a significant amount of time due to circumstances other than weather. Capital High School was closed at the beginning of the school year for nine days due to mold and HVAC issues.