DECATUR, Ala. — Decatur City Schools confirmed plans for the beginning of next week for students at Decatur Middle School, following a series of water leaks that have caused damage throughout the building. DMS students will once again have a Remote Learning Day on Monday, followed by a Virtual Day on Tuesday.
In DCS language, a Remote Learning Day involves students working mostly independently on assignments and projects. Teachers are available via email and school communications systems to assist with questions. For Virtual Days, live class sessions will be held over the internet.
School leaders hope normal operations can resume with teachers and students in the building by Wednesday.
The announcement comes after a pipe burst along an outer wall between Thursday night and Friday morning, causing minimal damage to a single classroom.
Since the winter storm moved through this week, no fewer than three coils to the school's HVAC system also ruptured and leaked, causing damage in several other areas of the school building.
Thursday, following the third of the HVAC ruptures, Deputy Superintendent Dwight Satterfield said he believes the issues stem from a combination of the facility's age as well as the weather. "These units here were not built for multiple days of single-digit temperature," he said.
School officials say a team of about 40 people are working inside the building, and contractors are making "considerable strides" in cleaning up and repairing the damage caused.
DMS was not the only North Alabama school impacted by water emergencies; Phil Campbell High School officials confirmed a leak flooded the gymnasium this week. They said in a social media post that cleanup was underway and that "minimal impacts" are expected when classes resume.
What should you do if you suspect a pipe may burst?
We took that question to Decatur Utilities' Joe Holmes, who said the best thing you can do is be proactive. With the pipe bursts at Decatur Middle as well as a local retirement home in the headlines this week, Holmes said not to wait, and check the flow of your plumbing.
"If it's below freezing and you don't have water or you've got a really restricted water flow, chances are you've got a pipe frozen somewhere and that doesn't mean it's burst yet," Holmes said. "It could mean that it's frozen up. We encourage folks to go and call [your utility service] and we'll get it get the water cut off at the meter, so that when it does stop, it doesn't just continually run until we can get back out there."