Gas Leaks Close New Jersey Middle School

HI INDIA NEWS DESK
OLD BRIDGE, NJ- Old Bridge Township School District officials closed the Carl Sandburg Middle School Friday after a series of underground gas leaks were discovered in the building, the superintendent said.

Classes for students at Carl SandburgMiddle School — which serves approximately 980 students in grades 6 through 8 — have been cancelled through Tuesday, according to a statement from Superintendent David Cittadino.

Beginning Wednesday, the school will switch to remote classes through at least Jan. 17, Cittadino said.

“We had every reason to believe that this, like other gas leaks, would be repaired and school would operate normally as soon as possible,” Cittadino said. “But what we found was significant gas leaks all along the exterior lines within the building.”

Students who cannot remain home during the remote instruction period will be provided busing to and from supervised learning centers at Old Bridge High School, officials said.

Special accommodations will be provided for students enrolled in the school’s Learning and Language Disabilities Program and Applied Behavioral Analysis program, district administrators said.

Old Bridge Township School District officials are bringing in portable boiler trailers to provide heat and hot water to the school, officials said. Those trailers will allow students and staff to occupy Carl Sandburg Middle School while the existing gas service lines are being replaced.

Barring any unforeseen delays, Cittadino said he expects Carl Sandburg Middle School to reopen after Martin Luther King Jr. Day next Monday

Worst case scenario, he said, students will return the following week.

“We are sorry and apologetic that this has happened,” Cittadino said.