Students not sent home after 2-day water outage at CMS elementary school

CHARLOTTE — There was little or no water at Whitewater Academy in northwest Mecklenburg County for two days.

Some parents were compelled to pick up their kids early from the PreK-5 school.

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“Terrible,” parent Daniel Hill said. “They should have sent all the kids home as soon as they found out there wasn’t gonna be any water yesterday morning, and they still didn’t send them home. They’re there.”

Some parents said they were not told about the issue and hope it gets resolved by next week.

Parent Jossie Quinoez said her nine-year-old son told her about the problems Thursday.

“They were only allowed one restroom break yesterday,” Quinoez said. “So, they had to go and wait for about 45 minutes to get that one restroom break. So, when he got out of school, he was ready to go.”

Officials with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools said a water main break caused the problems.

Staff members said students and teachers had to wait to use one bathroom. Students also didn’t have access to water fountains Thursday.

“It’s uncomfortable for them and it can cause accidents for them too,” Quinoez said. “They’re little. It’s embarrassing for them.”

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CMS said repairs were completed at the middle school, but they were still ongoing at the elementary school.

District officials said they brought in equipment to help toilets flush. They also brought in bottled water to drink.

By late Friday afternoon, water had been restored on the main pipe.

Plumbers started to flush and work through the building to ensure that water is on in all areas, officials said.

(Watch the video below: Crews work to fix damaged water main pipe in South End)

Crews work to fix damaged water main pipe in South End

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