Nearly 400 students bused to high school after boiler system leak at Genoa-Kingston Middle School

GENOA - Nearly 400 students were bused to Genoa-Kingston High School Monday morning after a leak in the hot water boiler system at the middle school caused damage to two classrooms and left the building without heat.

The leak has since been fixed, said Superintendent Brent O’Daniell and students were able to return shortly after. O’Daniell said that he first found out about the leak early Monday morning around 7:30 a.m.

“It was brought to our attention early this morning, and some kids were already in the school building by that time,” he said.

O’Daniell said that the cause of the problem is not yet known, but it is assumed that something in the boiler system froze, causing two classrooms to have water damage and the entire building to be without heat. One of the classrooms impacted was empty and isn’t used for classes currently. The other classroom’s floor and materials were wet, O’Daniell said. He said cleanup and finishing the school day is his main focus.

Temperatures during the past week dipped below zero, and on Monday morning windchills were nearly 10 degrees below zero, according to the National Weather Service. Icy conditions continued over the weekend, and Monday’s high was expected to be 12 degrees.

As the hot water boiler system was being repaired, O’Daniell said that all of the middle school’s students, about 390 in total, were placed on buses and were transferred to the Genoa-Kingston High School gymnasium. The system was repaired within hours. O’Daniell said students were able to return to the middle school building in time for lunch around 11 a.m.

“I am so proud of our staff, our custodial staff and our students for dealing with an unexpected curve ball this morning,” he said. “When bad things happen, you do the best that you can in a bad situation. Our staff and students were great. They made the best out of a tough situation, and are able to finish the day as normally as possible.”

O’Daniell said that further investigation into the cause of the hot water boiler system leak will be completed after the school day, when students and staff are not in the building.