By Marilynn Young | LB Indy
An emergency contract to repair gas lines at Thurston Middle School was approved this week after pin-sized gas leaks were detected and service cut to the campus April 4.
Without natural gas, Thurston lacks hot water, heat or gas service for its cafeteria kitchen and science labs.
Until repairs are completed, school lunches will not be prepared onsite but come from Z Pizza, Subway and Pick-up-Stix, said the district’s food service supervisor Debra Appel. Initially, Thurston’s four-person cafeteria staff relocated and prepared meals in the high school, which proved too small, she said. Packaged spinach salads will be tried out next week.
Since health department regulations require hot water for meal preparation, the school voluntarily closed their kitchen and installed two electric hand washing sinks for hot water the day after the gas was turned off, said Appel. A district employee since 1992, she cannot remember such a lengthy disruption of gas service at any of district’s four schools.
The Gas Company shut off service after the leaks were detected April 4 by a teacher who smelled gas at the campus and notified authorities, Facilities Director Jeffrey Dixon reported Tuesday, April 26, during the school board meeting. The pipes are made of a combination of old cast iron and new materials, he said.
The cost of the repairs isn’t yet clear, but should be completed in a month, he said. The work was awarded under the emergency contract to American Leak Detection, Inc.
“We are creating work-arounds,” Thurston Principal Jennifer Salberg said. “In home economics, students are using hot plates instead of the gas stoves. Science labs have adjusted. It’s like the good old days,” she said.
Thurston barely has any fresh cooked food services anyways,,,the students would be better served having all meals delivered off-site from local restaurant than the current, over-inflated, unhealthy meals now pushed by the administration.