This morning, the Rhinelander School District lost power at Central Intermediate School due to the partial failure of electricity which runs the school’s hot water boiler heating system.

Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) was not aware of the issue until it was notified by the District at approximately 6:15 a.m. No other residences/buildings were affected in the area of the school, and WPS had no confirmed cause for the electrical failure.

Notification of the school’s closing to Central school parents was delayed due to an error in the PowerAnnouncement (school closing alert software) notification. However, media was notified and immediately reported the school closing on their Facebook pages and other announcement sources.
 
Parents/guardians of those students who did not receive notification of the school closing and who dropped their students off at the school were contacted and the students were picked up. Teachers were expected to work today (professional development) – at the school or at a location where heat was available.

The electricity is expected to be restored and heat resumed by approximately 1 p.m. today. School will be in session tomorrow.

The administrative staff sincerely apologizes for the inconveniences to parents, students and staff for the delay in notification of the closing and for the disruption it caused in their day.

District personnel is investigating a software program that would notify District personnel in the future if the boiler’s water temperature drops below a certain set-point so this does not happen in the future.