School canceled after a city water line burst, leaving West High without water

Wichita West High School canceled classes on Friday after a ruptured city water main left the school without running water and flooded the surrounding neighborhood.

“We noticed the break and then we had to evaluate to see if it’s something that can be fixed right away, what’s the situation, and by the time we got all that information back and made the determination, we realized that it would not be possible to have a school day with no water,” said Susan Arensman, a Wichita Public Schools spokesperson.

West High, near Lincoln and McLean, has 1,307 students.

“We made the call before school but there were already students who were making their way to school and buses making their way to school by the time we (canceled classes).”

Arensman said the canceled school day could add school days for some seniors, who have already had a shortened school year with four snow days last month and one day of canceled classes because of a citywide water outage in the fall.

Wichita’s aging and fragile water infrastructure has been under increased scrutiny following an Eagle report on its poor condition in 2019 and a water line break last year that placed more than half a million people under a boil-water advisory for 36 hours.

City officials did not announce the water break or the school closure. City spokesperson Megan Lovely said in an email that it was fixed and service restored by 11:30 a.m. The line in question had a 12-inch diameter.

“The connection point that joins two pieces of pipe failed,” Lovely said. “It is a ‘collar’ that connects each piece of pipe and is covered by rubber fittings on each end. One of those rubber fittings failed.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 2:32 PM.