A gas smell was detected Wednesday morning at Santa Fe Elementary School in the Colony Ridge communities south of Plum Grove. According to Cleveland ISD Superintendent Stephen McCanless, students were immediately moved next door to Santa Fe Middle School’s gym while the building was checked by gas company employees.
During the inspection of the building, multiple leaks were found in the campus’s gas lines, mostly at connection points, McCanless said, prompting the closure of Santa Fe Elementary at least throughout the remainder of the day.
“Parents can pick up their elementary students now at Santa Fe Middle School. This is for elementary students only. Our middle school students are trying to run their regular day, so we are hoping to have as many students as possible picked up by their parents. We will be running the buses to their homes. If someone is not able to pick up their student and if there is no one home for them, we will bring the students back to the campus and hold them for the rest of the day,” McCanless said. “There will be another bus run at the end of the day for those students.”
As for tomorrow, McCanless said it is too soon to determine if classes can be held at Santa Fe Elementary.
“I will be issuing an update later today between 6 and 8 p.m. to provide a status of the repairs and to make an announcement about tomorrow’s schedule,” he said. “Our first priority now is to ensure the students’ safety and to ensure that the leaks are properly repaired.”
As Santa Fe Elementary is a new campus, this has prompted McCanless to issue a directive that all campuses within the district be thoroughly inspected, starting with the new campuses and then extending to the other campuses.
“This will be taking place immediately. All inspections will be done this week. I just want to assure parents that Cleveland ISD is making sure that everything will be thoroughly inspected by professionals,” said McCanless.
Bluebonnet News will update readers interested in the campus closure later today after McCanless issues his update.