Local schools will start digging their own well water systems in order to bring school services back online.
“We can’t wait until the [municipal water system] is fully repaired to open our schools,” Asheville City Schools Superintendent Maggie Fehrman said at Buncombe County’s daily briefing.
The process is already underway at Hall Fletcher Elementary School, Fehrman said.
“Yesterday, we did dig a well at Hall Fletcher and we were able to hit groundwater,” she said.
It will take between two and three weeks for Hall Fletcher to be able to use its well water. That will be the case for any school that digs a well.
Within the Asheville City School system, Fehrman expects to dig between eight and ten well systems. Some schools may require more than one well. Each well costs around $100,000 to dig, she said. The school’s capital fund will support these construction efforts, though the school system is hopeful that FEMA will offer reimbursement.
The tentative reopening date for Asheville City Schools is October 28. This is a “target date” and subject to change, Fehrman said. The school system will give 72 hours notice to all students and families before officially reopening.
In order to open, schools will also need porta potties and hand washing stations, which they currently do not have in the scale required. Fehrman said that Asheville City Schools has requested these resources but does not have a timeline for when they will be received.
In Buncombe County, the school system has also requested portapotties and hand washing stations. Presently, 13 of 45 schools have running water and there is no projected reopening date, according to Buncombe County Schools Superintendent Rob Jackson. No plans for digging a well were announced by Jackson.
“To open our schools, we need 939 portable toilets and 391 hand washing stations. This comes with a large financial burden,” Jackson said. “However we know the 14,680 students served without the schools that currently do not have water are worth every effort.”
Jackson could not offer a timeline of when those supplies will arrive for Buncombe County Schools.
In order for the schools to reopen, numerous logistical issues will need to be addressed, Jackson explained. These logistics include everything from preparing daily meals without running water to addressing fire safety issues that arise from a lack of pressurized water. Bus routes will also need to be adjusted due to road damage from Helene.
