What does YOUR school do when there is no water?

[seastarmath]

What does your school do when there is no water? I don't mean just for drinking. I mean when the water is shut off for an extended period of time by the city. No flushing toilets, no drinking water, no washing up etc. Do the powers that be help you out or tell you to just deal with it?

[Karenrbw]

I think it is a health issue when a school doesn't have running water. That being said, we have had several instances in the past that we had no water. They put a cooler in the cafeteria with paper cups for students, asked us to limit restroom passes to those who really needed them (?), and served lunch on paper plates. No tea or salad today, folks. We all have GermX in our rooms. What about those little kids that get all snotty or dirty on the playground. Can you imagine 450 people in a building for 5 hours with no running water?!?!? We should have been sent home. We didn't even get any warning so the art classes had dirty paintbrushes, the ag classes had plants to water, etc.

[seastarmath]

I'll bet this kind of thing happens more often than we think.

[Boxcar]

I've never experienced this. I agree that it is a health issue. Tell your school to pay its bills!!!

Seriously, I think that there needs to be help from the higher ups. Buckets of water can be used to flush toliets. If your school has a swimming pool, custodial staff can help refill the buckets from this source. Diaper wipes can be used effectively to wash hands. Bottled water brought from home is okay for drinking.

I can't imagine having no water for the little ones. Being in a classroom without a water source is hard. Having no water in the building for the E.C. crowd... My heart goes out to you!

[Ima Teacher]

We've had water issues several times. We go into "code yellow" and the kids stay in the classrooms. Someone from the office calls the water company to see how long the water will be off. Typically it's not all that long.

[upnorthteacher]

If it is for a short period of time, we just limit bathroom breaks. If it will be more than a couple of hours, we send the kids home. I think OSHA has regulations about this, and that is what our district follows.

[hweber]

I would weigh in on the send the kids home side. This has to be a health issue.

[teacher5]

I've never had this experience. I can't imagine not having running water for toilets, washing hands, and drinking, let alone cleaning and doing experiments, and clean up time. I must agree with previous responders. It's a real health issue. Unless port-a-toilets can be brought nearby school grounds, and bottled water be provided, it is time for every one to go home.

[War_Eagle]

I've never even heard of this. Why doesn't your school have water?

[lynn bambusch]

If the water goes out during the day, we would just tough it out for the day but I'm sure they would cancel school after that. Once our students are at school it is hard to send them home....parents are at work...and many aren't old enough to be left alone. If the water was going to be out for an extended period of time, we'd be looking at temporary housing! Porta-potties aren't a good option in Michigan in the winter!

[Dhe Poet]

Twenty years ago they would have sent you home. It is a Health Risk. No doubt.

[LeAnna]

This problem has happened at my school at least once a year. The adminstration has to decide if students should be sent home. Usually the problem is a poor water quality report and we are not allowed to use the sinks or drinking faucets. Sometimes the school provides bottled water. Often not though. A few times the water lines were broken and the students were sent home as soon as feasible. We usually have to deal with power outages due to wind, snow, land slides or vehicle accidents. And yes, it is a health issue. Can't imagine students hand flushing with buckets of water. We do have "crisis" potties for when there are lock downs, it is a five gallon bucket with a toilet lid and a roll of tp. I have lots of trash bags in it and you normally hold up a large cloth to give students some privacy while they use it. Then you tie off the used bag and put it in another bag in a trash can. I also keep kitty litter to toss in the bag. So far we have not had to use it. We got ours from Emergency Essentials a preparedness on line store based in Utah.

[NPearls888]

I have never experience this, but I do agree with hweber.

[herdgrad]

The school usually finds out how long it will be without water. If it is just for a very short time, then we limit bathroom, etc. Longer periods they call school off. We have only had one time that I know of where we were sent home because of no water. It is a health concern!!