All Juneau schools and after-school programs are up and running today, after a water pipe break on Friday caused early releases.
Flooding was discovered in the boiler room of the Marie Drake building around 1:30 p.m. on Friday. That building houses two schools: Yaaḵoosgé Daakahídi Alternative High School and Montessori Borealis Public School. The Montessori students were picked up from Juneau-Douglas High School next door.
Schools across the district felt an indirect impact when power to the Marie Drake building was shut off: The information technology server room for the entire district is located in the basement.
Juneau School District chief of staff Kristin Bartlett explained, “That room has servers for district phones, network and internet access. So that impacted communication services at other schools in the district.”
As a result, phones and internet were out at most schools for the afternoon. Bartlett said district staff were able to communicate with cell phones. The district’s mass notification system remained fully operational and was used to contact families.
Bartlett said maintenance, custodial and IT crews were able to make necessary repairs to reopen all schools today, but ongoing work will be needed. Costs for permanent repairs are still being assessed.
