In Rhinelander, Central Intermediate School is scheduled to be open Tuesday after Monday's unexpected closing. School District officials say part of the school’s electrical system failed, affecting the heat in the building.
Staff became aware of the problem around 6 am and called WPS.
But the announcement software designed to alert parents of school closings also malfunctioned. Rhinelander Schools Superintendent Kelli Jacobi says parents were notified late.
“So it took much longer than it should have. We are working on remedying the problem and coming up with a backup plan if that should ever happen again.”
Jacobi says there was some confusion among parents, but only about a dozen students showed up at school. Staff made sure the students were taken care of.
“Staff were all at work. They didn’t stay there but they were there until all of the students were safe, and then they were working at other locations that did have heat.”
District administrative staff are apologizing for the inconvenience to parents.
The district is looking into software that would notify staff earlier if the hot water boiler wasn’t working properly.
