The Jackson Public School District opted for virtual instruction for its nearly 20,000 students today, the first school day of the spring semester, after reporting that more than half of its 54 schools “have low or no water pressure” in a press release Wednesday, Jan. 4. A cold front over the Christmas weekend damaged the City of Jackson’s water system, affecting supply across the city.
In an earlier release on Tuesday, Jan. 3, the school district said it would go virtual on Thursday and Friday, with 33 schools having low or no water pressure. In the revised Wednesday guidance, the district said the number of school water problems fell by four.
“We will continue to evaluate our water supply this evening and in the morning to determine if it is safe to reopen schools on Friday, January 6th,” the release said. “We are very pleased to learn of the progress being made in restoring water pressure across the city. Unfortunately, despite those reports, the majority of our schools and offices (29) still have low or no water pressure.”
In a town hall meeting that Jackson Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Bank organized at the Glory Empowerment Center (115 Maddox Road) on Monday, the federally appointed Jackson water system administrator, Ted Henifin, explained that the City’s limited knowledge of its own system contributes to the problem.
“We don’t know anything about our distribution system,” he said at the forum, where he listened to the frustrations of local residents. “And I say we—I’ve only been associated with the water system for three months and really only been responsible for the last 30 days.”
“We don’t know where the valves are, we don’t know what position they’re in, we don’t have records of that, and we haven’t been able to find any of that information. We don’t have a model.”
Jackson Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks organized a town hall for the federally appointed Jackson water system administrator Ted Henifin to speak with some of the people the repeated water crisis hit hardest. File photo by Imani Khayyam / Courtesy Jackson Free Press
Lt.
Read original article by clicking here.