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Boil water advisory impacting these metro Atlanta schools

The schools are still open despite the advisory - but have put several plans in place to get clean water to students.

FAIRBURN, Ga. — A boil water advisory is having a direct impact on dozens of Fulton County schools.

Fulton County Schools announced on Tuesday that it is closely monitoring the effects of a water main break that spurred the warning for parts of Fairburn, South Fulton, Union City and Chattahoochee Hills on Monday.

According to the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management, the water main break happened on a transmission main near the intersection of Fairburn and Cascade roads. The time of the advisory was extended Tuesday.

While the boil water advisory is a precaution due to the possibility of contamination, the school system said they aren't taking any chances while making sure the schools can still function.

All schools in the district are open despite the advisory but they are "enacting safety plans" to maintain sanitary conditions and handing out bottled water. Cafeterias at the impacted schools are also using an alternate meal plan.

Late Tuesday evening the district said, schools reported varying issues ranging from low water pressure but operational bathrooms, to no water at all which resulted in the Fulton County Board of Health requiring that Campbell Elementary School students and staff be moved to an alternate site. Palmetto Elementary School was chosen as the nearest school without water issues that had available space for receiving, feeding and housing Campbell’s students.

However, bathrooms are clean and now operational at each school.

These are the elementary schools still included in the advisory:

Elementary schools

  • A. Philip Randolph
  • Bethune
  • Campbell
  • Cliftondale
  • Evoline C. West
  • Feldwood,
  • Gullatt
  • Heritage
  • Love T. Nolan
  • Oakley
  • Renaissance
  • Seaborn
  • S.L. Lewis
  • Stonewall Tell
  • Wolf Creek

Middle schools

  • Bear Creek
  • Camp Creek
  • McNair
  • Renaissance
  • Sandtown

High Schools

  • Banneker
  • Creekside
  • Langston Hughes
  • Westlake

Explaining why all 24 schools were not closed Tuesday, Chief Academic Officer Cliff Jones said it comes down to doing what is right for students and their families.

“Our goal is to keep schools open for safety and academic reasons. If a school is affected by a situation, then it’s likely homes in the area are also impacted by the issue,” said Jones. “For many children, school is the place where they have heat, meals, supervision, and can feel safe. By keeping school open, our parents have a safe place for their children, whereas closing school may have them searching for childcare and supervision. We always aim to do what is safest for our students.”

“In all, our staff and students handled an unusual situation today with professionalism and maturity,” Jones said. “We also appreciate our community’s support. Many parents went above and beyond to be helpful to the schools.”

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