Hononegah loses a quarter of its power, students take buses home early

Hononegah Community High School lost power (and air conditioning) in about a quarter of the building at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, May 12, 2022. Before temperatures rose to a high of 92 degrees, school officials decided to send students home early. First Student, who provides bus service to the school, told Superintendent Michael Dugan they could get there by 11:45 a.m., and students were dismissed then. Dugan says it's very unusual for the school bus company to be able to respond so quickly. 

The school's electrical contractor said that repairs would be completed by 5:00 p.m. Thursday. The outage was caused by a ground fault in a 600 amp breaker in an older, 1950s-era section of the school. Dugan says it affected part of the tech center, the 200 wing upstairs, the metal gym, and part of the cafeteria.

One student said that, in his classroom, "It was weird because only the lights went out but the computers stayed on." 

Classes should be in session as usual on Friday, which is the last day of classes for graduating seniors. The Performing Arts Center was not affected, so the Scholarship Awards program will proceed as scheduled at 7:00 p.m. No after-school activities or athletic programs were canceled.

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