ACS backs off drilling wells, works to reopen schools Oct. 28

With water from Asheville’s water system now spreading throughout the city, Asheville City Schools (ACS) is retreating from its initial idea to drill wells at each school to expedite reopening.

Superintendent Maggie Fehrman told the Asheville City Board of Education at its meeting Oct. 14 that she still wants to explore drilling wells to increase the district’s resiliency but is shifting her focus to obtaining enough drinking water to reopen schools by Monday, Oct. 28.

“We’re very, very comfortable with saying we could definitely open by [Oct. 28],” she said. “Once schools are open, it is my recommendation that we move forward with adding wells on each campus so we can thoroughly examine all the various economic, health and safety variables.”

ACS is working with Buncombe County Schools (BCS) and area charter schools to obtain enough bottled drinking water to reopen all schools the same day, Fehrman noted.

For its part, however, BCS has not committed to reopening by a certain date, according to a statement posted on its website Oct. 15.

“While we’re working together with other area schools, BCS serves one of the largest geographical areas of the state, with significant challenges to overcome in several distinct areas across the county severely impacted by the storm,” the statement said. “We also continue to work on repairing our school buildings, restoring phone and security systems, and redrawing bus routes. As this work progresses, we will provide a reopening date as soon as possible and will give a minimum of 72 hours’ notice to assist families and staff with their planning.”

Fehrman also promised a 72-hour notice for families and staff before reopening, adding that the district meets daily with Buncombe County’s Incident Management Team and other public school leaders for updates on the municipal water system and the availability of bottled water.

When schools reopen, the district plans to operate on four-hour days, instead of the typical six-plus-hour school days, because of the quantity of bottled water recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

FEMA said  school districts should provide one half-liter bottle of water per person every two hours. Fehrman proposed that high schools and middle schools be open 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and elementary schools 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

The City of Asheville and Buncombe County will provide sufficient drinking water for all public schools for two weeks. After that, the districts will provide for themselves, with BCS delivering  drinking water to all schools, Fehrman said.

The calculation for water does not include any extracurricular activities for schools. When municipal water becomes suitable for drinking, all these calculations change, Fehrman noted.

Initially, the district was looking into drilling wells at each school to expedite reopening and paid ClearWater Well Drilling of Hot Springs more than $30,000 to drill one at Hall Fletcher Elementary, according to spokesperson Kim Dechant. At a Buncombe County briefing meeting last week, Fehrman said wells would cost about $100,000 each but hoped FEMA would reimburse the district.

Fehrman said the district has gotten several different prices for wells, and she wants to be sure the district is being as financially responsible as possible in its pursuit of school wells.

“I still believe that wells are a good solution to prevent disruption of our schools in the future,” Fehrman said at the meeting. “I know there’s some concern about the pH of the water. Is it drinkable? Is it not drinkable? But I feel like it still is a really good option to use in the intermediate if the water main breaks or water goes down somewhere so we can keep our students in the building,” she said, even if it’s only for flushing toilets and other nonpotable uses.

Water from any well meant for human consumption has to be tested, and the district is awaiting test results from Hall Fletcher, Dechant noted.

The initial idea for drilling wells for schools came after Mission Hospital drilled wells after Tropical Storm Helene, Dechant said.

Any expenditure at or above $90,000 has to be approved by the school board.