Potty time: Greenlee students bused to Ethel to use facilities due to water leak

By Leslie N. Dees

A water leak discovered on Sunday night made for an interesting day at Greenlee Elementary School on Monday. Approximately 400 students were bused twice during the school day to Ethel High School gym bathrooms after a water leak wasn’t repaired quickly. The school regained water on Monday afternoon as the school children left for the day.

Greenlee Principal Bryan Weaver said he was alerted by school nurse Cynthia Dean, who was picking up some items at the school’s clinic, that there was a water leak near the cafeteria.

Weaver said he and custodian Jerry Talley found the water boiling up from the ground and since they were unable to get the county maintenance department, the water was shut off.

A simple water leak can be fixed in a timely manner or at least that’s what Weaver thought.

Early Monday, as the students were arriving to school so did the maintenance crew and Supervisor Charles Fancher’s backhoe.

Then things got a little more interesting. The pipe fitting couldn’t be located to repair the leak and to make matters worse Weaver wasn’t able to get up with Superintendent Larry Stevens immediately because he was in Meridian for training.

Finally Stevens was contacted and at his recommendation Weaver began busing students to Ethel campus with the help of three other staff members at 11 a.m. Students were later bused over again starting at 1 p.m.

Weaver said it was a constant disruption for instructional time but all in all the kids handled it well. He added that it was more of a disruption for the upper elementary students because they change classes during the day.

Of course, with the younger students, there were some accidents but no more than normal, Weaver said.

Accidents and the lack of running water concerned grandmother Patricia Pitts.

“I thought this is ridiculous,” Pitts, whose granddaughter is in the fifth grade and has other family members at the school, said. “I am sure parents would have picked up their children” if they had known.

Pitts said students used the facilities all morning without flushing the toilets at the school.

She contacted the health department because she was worried about the spread of illness at the school.

Weaver said they had hand sanitizer throughout the school and tried to make sure that students used it.

School Board President Linda Massey said her phone had been ringing off the hook all Monday with parents expressing their concerns over the problem.

“The parents have a right to be upset,” she said. “I understand that.”

Massey added that she felt the board should have had an emergency meeting to take action since Stevens was out of town.

“We need a better crisis plan,” Massey said.

Massey added that getting portable bathrooms to the school grounds would have been more sanitary.

Stevens, who arrived back at his office in the Attala County Courthouse late Monday afternoon, said what was a simple water leak escalated.

Looking back on the events of the day, Stevens said he thought they should have started hauling students to Ethel earlier and sent out an automated message alerting parents to the situation so they could pick up their children if they so desired.

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