After shuttering schools across metro Atlanta this week, the freezing weather took one last swipe at nearly 1,000 students in DeKalb County before melting away Wednesday.
A water main froze then burst, causing officials to shut off the water to Dunwoody Elementary School as buses were bringing kids to school.
Students had already enjoyed a prolonged holiday after DeKalb officials, like those across metro Atlanta, canceled classes Tuesday because of the cold. Wednesday, Dunwoody Elementary was evacuated, and students were bused to a nearby high school because of the water situation.
“It was exciting,” said Regan Drummond, a third grader who’s never been on a school bus without her mom.
Some 20 buses carried the children to Dunwoody High, half a mile away. There, principal Noel Maloof had emptied the ground floor, crowding his own students into other classrooms.
By late morning, class was in session. But it would prove to be a short day since, soon after lunch, the children had to return to the elementary school, where parents and buses were waiting to take them home.
The disruptions put Dunwoody Elementary teachers in catchup mode.
“We can’t immediately repair two days loss of instruction,” said principal Jennifer Sanders. “But, over the next three months, we can recoup the time.”
Michele Drummond, Regan’s mother, said she considered collecting her daughter early but decided to let her experience the “excitement and the drama” of the day. “I figure this week is kind of a write off,” she added.
Some parents, though, including Eva Tabachnikoff, were trickling out of the high school before noon with their young children. She said her two daughters still had relatives in town from the holidays and that she didn’t expect much learning to occur under the circumstances anyway. She was annoyed by the disruption, but said the high school was less chaotic than she expected. “It looks pretty organized, actually.”
The problems caused by the abnormal cold weren’t limited to Dunwoody. South of Atlanta, in Henry County, Ola Elementary School was closed Wednesday after it was flooded by a burst water line, and schools in a few mountain counties delayed opening a couple hours.
The Dunwoody burst occurred near the intersection of Tilly Mill and Womack roads, in front of Georgia Perimeter College’s Dunwoody campus (students there aren’t scheduled to return from holiday break until Monday). It spurted an 80-to-100-foot geyser into the 13-degree air, coating the roadway and nearby utility lines with ice.
Despite the deep freeze, county officials were expecting a quick repair. The disruptions should finally come to an end for Dunwoody Elementary on Thursday, when doors open for a normal day of school, district spokesman Quinn Hudson said.
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