The recent winter cold snap is still having ill effects in the area.
Jacksonville High School students are getting an extended holiday break in the wake of a broken water line over the Christmas holiday break. District 117 Superintendent Steve Ptacek announced this morning, that JHS students will not be returning until Friday.
Ptacek says due to the damage in the 200 hall at JHS from the water line that broke Christmas Eve and was not found until two days later, they need more time to get the school ready for students.
The carpeting in every classroom in the 200 hall was flooded out and needs to be removed. Ptacek told WLDS News this past weekend that classes in the 200 hall would be moved for approximately two weeks while a company comes in and removes the old carpeting and grinds everything down to bare concrete.
District 117 classes start back tomorrow, Wednesday, January 4th, 2023 with teachers already having returned to work today. The State of Illinois allows school districts to use up to two consecutive emergency days “due to a condition beyond the control of the school district.”
Ptacek says with this in mind, JHS students will not report to school until Friday, January 6th, and the staff will continue to report as usual. He says the staff needs this time to prepare for the modifications required while the work in the 200 hall is being completed.
Ptacek says these two days will not impact the school schedule, as per Illinois code if only one school of a multi-school district is closed due to an emergency need, the days do not need to be made up.