Schools

Update: School Back in Session

Students dismissed early from Mount Vernon High School after air conditioning system malfunction.

Updated June 2, 2011, 11:49 a.m.: 

School is back in session today after an air conditioning system failure at Mount Vernon High School resulted in students being dismissed early from school Tuesday and Wednesday. The system is back up and running. 

Updated June 1, 2011, 11:25 a.m.: 

Find out what's happening in Mount Vernonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The air conditioning system at MVHS is still down. Today's SOL testing has been rescheduled and students were dismissed at 10:30 a.m.

"We are continuing to monitor the temperature in the building and will work with the Department of Facilities to access and make appropriate decisions about the remainder of the day," said King in an email sent to parents this morning.

Find out what's happening in Mount Vernonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Updated May 31, 2011, 7 p.m.

The broken chiller cannot be repaired for a few days, said MVHS Principal Nardos King in an email sent to parents this evening. 

According to the email, the school will rent a chiller from a company in North Carolina that is expected to be up and running by tomorrow morning. The working chiller will remain on throughout the night to keep the building cool. 

"Our first concern is to ensure that we having an environment that is conducive to learning and testing.  We will monitor the temperature and make any necessary decisions in the morning," said King in the email. 

SOL testing originally scheduled for today has been rescheduled for June 8. 

Original article: 

Students at Mount Vernon High School were dismissed at noon today after the school experienced problems with its air conditioning system.

According to an email sent to parents by Mount Vernon High School earlier this morning, one of the air conditioner chillers went down this morning and the school's air conditioning system was at 50 percent capacity. The school filed an emergency work order, and a maintenance crew arrived at the school to fix the system this morning. 

Extracurricular and intramural activities, sports practices, field trips, and all Adult and Community Education classes are cancelled this afternoon. Keep checking Mount Vernon Patch for updates on this story as it develops.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Mount Vernon