Middle school closes due to flooding

SANDPOINT — Sandpoint Middle School will be closed again today following the discovery of a broken water main at the school building over the weekend. 

The Lake Pend Oreille School District notified families and the community Sunday night about the school being closed Monday. They sent out a notice again Monday to update students and parents about current conditions and let them know that the school will be closed again Tuesday. 

“Sandpoint Middle School suffered a break to the three-inch main water supply line under the building which resulted in flooding of portions of the building’s mechanical tunnels and the boiler room,” Matt Diel, facilities director, said Sunday. 

Because the school would not have had water or heat by Monday morning, SMS principal Geoff Penrose determined they needed to close the school for the day Dec. 11. He encouraged students to work from home through Schoology, a learning management system where teachers will be monitoring activity. 

"Having to close our doors to make this deteriorating building safe for students is truly disheartening,” Penrose said. “We're used to the day-to-day difficulties of teaching and learning in an aging facility, but to actually have to shut down and go home because the building has no functioning heat or water has been hard for me to accept as an educator.”

While the original hope was to reopen Tuesday, they are waiting an additional day before moving forward.

“Out of an abundance of caution — with extensive repairs to the plumbing system and the amount of water in the mechanical tunnels — we are testing the water quality and providing additional time for cleanup,” district officials said Monday. 

Officials said they will be in touch with families today afternoon. 

“We've lost two days of in-person instructional time,” Penrose said. “That's about 1% of all the instructional time we have in a school year." 

The LPOSD facilities team has been actively addressing the situation, working to expedite repairs, district officials said. Officials expressed their gratitude for assistance from Selkirk Fire and North Idaho Fire and Flood during this time. 

“I am so proud of the talented and hard working facilities team,” Diel said. “Everyone from office staff to custodial and maintenance crews work tirelessly to keep our aging  facilities operating as well as possible.

The closure is specific to SMS only, and all other schools within the LOPSD are continuing with their regular schedules.

“We appreciate the understanding and cooperation of our school community during this time,” Superintendent Dr. Becky Meyer said. “Our dedicated teams are working tirelessly to address the issue and restore the educational environment for our students and staff.”