A power outage in parts of California caused a delay in the start of the elementary and middle schools on Friday, Sept.5. Power was restored shortly after 8 a.m.
The power failure apparently occurred about 5 a.m. affecting several areas of the city. The most people affected by the outage were the students, teachers, administrators and other staff who waited outside the elementary and middle schools on Owen Street for power to be restored. There may have been a power surge a little after 7 a.m. since a plastic shield on a restroom exhaust fan in the elementary school filled the building with smoke, drawing the fire department to the school.
While the City of California Electric Department sought a solution to the problem, a very orderly assembly of students and staff waited outside the schools. In fact, about 8 a.m. the middle school students, who were waiting at the outside patio near the cafeteria, appeared to be holding an impromptu pep rally.
The problem was said to be a couple of phase wires, which the wind likely crossed, welded together and shorted out the system. Power was restored about 8:10 a.m. Damage assessment began at that time.
According to Superintendent Dwight Sanders, surge protectors helped, but there was still some equipment damage done. Three elementary school computers and one central office computer were damaged, as well as the color copier and a bus radio which happened to be plugged in at the time.
At the middle school, there was some damage to circuits in the new air conditioning units and the automated climate control system. None of the old units appear to have sustained damage. A few of the Mimios boards (similar to Smartboards and Interactive Whiteboards) were damaged.