South Mecklenburg High School releases early because of waterline issue

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — South Mecklenburg High School released early Wednesday because of a waterline issue.

Dismissal was at 1 p.m., and all afterschool activities were canceled except the boys' soccer state playoff game.

Coulwood Elementary School, which is a CMS school, will be closed Thursday due to a broken pipe.

[ALSO READ: Broken pipe shuts down middle school Thursday]

In a statement, CMS said South Meck will hold class Thursday: "CMS is alerting Families that Coulwood Middle School will be closed tomorrow due to heating issues. All other CMS schools will operate on a normal schedule tomorrow including South Mecklenburg High, which closed early on Wednesday due to a water main repair."

Below is the message that was sent home to South Meck families on Wednesday: 

"Good afternoon families this is principal Starnes and I wanted to make you aware that we will need to dismiss school early today because of a waterline issue. 

We will dismiss at 1 p.m.  buses will leave the lot shortly after. Car riders will be released at 1 p.m. as well.  

All afterschool activities are canceled with the exception of the boys' soccer state playoff game. We will be open for school tomorrow."

"There was no water at school whatsoever," student Danny Duncan said. "I went to go use the bathroom. Water wasn't coming out."

Students said some toilets were backed up. That eventually led to more serious problems.

"A lot kids wanted to use the bathroom, but teachers weren't letting them," Duncan said.

Students told me it was miserable.

"I felt really uncomfortable, to be honest," student Jennifer Sanchez said.

Sanchez said things got worse at lunch. She said most students don't bring bottled water to school because it weighs down book bags. Then they realized there was no drinking water.

"No water. The toilets wouldn't flush. It was kind of disappointing," Sanchez said.

School officials haven't released details about what caused the problem.

Cox Media Group