Power Back on at High School, Teachers Asked to Postpone Tests

Peters Township High School's power is back on after a transformer malfunction on Valleybrook Road caused an outage and caused the back-up generators to fail.

Principal Lori Pavlik sent an e-message to parents late Wednesday night thanking them for their patience during the early dismissals. Some students were unable to go back to their lockers before they left, so Pavlik said she asked teachers to postpone tests and quizzes.

Below is the full message from Pavlik:

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we worked through a very difficult situation at the high school today.  We lost electricity at approximately 10:10 a.m. due to a transformer malfunction on Valleybrook Road.  This malfunction also caused our back-up generators to fail. Students were in their 4th period classes which included students eating in the cafeteria.  

We immediately went into partial lockdown and relocated classes that were in rooms with no exterior lighting. In the meantime, the police department and fire department were contacted for assistance. Movement throughout the building was greatly restricted as many of our hallways and restrooms were in complete darkness. The fire department did provide stand alone lighting that allowed us to safely use designated restrooms and other areas of our building.  Teachers and counselors continually circulated the building sharing information with staff and students, and escorting groups of students to the restroom as needed.   

It was not an ideal situation, but we were most concerned about the safety of the nearly 1,500 students in our building. Once it became apparent that the power outage was going to extend further, the cafeteria staff traveled throughout the building with food and drink items for students and transportation arrangements were made for an early dismissal. 

The high school staff and students handled this situation remarkably today. In addition, I need thank those parents who waited patiently outside to pick up their children. We apologize for any confusion at the front entrance as we sorted through all of the early dismissals.

The electric service at the high school is restored at this time and school will resume as usual tomorrow. We are aware that many students could not return to their lockers at the end of the school day and we have asked our teachers to postpone any tests/quizzes tomorrow