School is expected to be back in session at Bayside Middle School Wednesday morning, after a loss of heat prompted school officials to cancel classes Tuesday.
Superintendent Rachel Boechler said a sump pump malfunctioned, and water found its way into the basement, causing an electrical shortage. The building lost power Monday, but classes continued as normal, with the building already heated. Officials anticipated it would have been fixed by midnight Monday.
“We were told around 9 p.m. it wouldn’t be fixed and made the decision then to cancel school for Tuesday,” Boechler said. “We knew the temperatures would drop overnight.”
Fox Point parent Jen Haraway told Patch the school lost power in the fifth and sixth-grade wing around noon Monday.
As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, contractors were working to install transformers in the building’s basement and get power restored. Boechler said there's still a question of what caused what to malfunction, and whether the recent rainstorms overwhelmed the building's sump pumps.
"The priority is to get the power restored and then search for the cause," she said.
There wasn’t any significant damage to equipment, Boechler said, but the district will likely still file a claim with its insurance.
