Power outage disrupts classes

Draytonville Elementary School students were sent home before school Wednesday morning following a power outage.

The elementary school was among 1,700 Broad River Electric customers left without power at 6 a.m.

The outage impacted electrical service in the Wilkinsville, McKowns Mountains, Draytonville and Corinth communities.

"Our custodian arrived to find the school without power," Draytonville Elementary Principal Janice Ford said. "We met the buses and had them turn around to take the students home."

Students were long gone by the time Broad River Electric restored power to Draytonville Elementary and surrounding areas by 10 a.m.

Broad River Electric operations manager Doug Wilson attributed the power outage to a malfunction at a substation during a time of peak usage early Wednesday morning.

"Due to the cold snap, people were using heat pumps and other devices to heat their homes. One of the protective devices at the substation tripped out," Wilson said. "We deeply regret the interruption in service. We have gone back and increased our output settings so it can handle a higher electrical load with the colder weather."

State law requires students to attend school for 180 days.

But Draytonville Elementary students may not have to make up Wednesday's school day.

District transportation director Herman Thompson said school days can be forgiven in an emergency, such as a power outage, upon the approval of the school superintendent and school board.