OXFORD - A plumbing problem temporarily suspended classes as the new multi-million-dollar Oxford Regional Education Centre on Wednesday.
Classes were cancelled just before noon because of frozen pipes in the school's bathrooms.
"One of the school's green initiatives is to collect water from the school's roof and store it underground. The problem, we believe, is that it wasn't buried deep enough and one of the pipes may have frozen," Chignecto-Central Regional School Board spokesperson Carolyn Pierce said, adding the school's supply of drinking water was never impacted.
The $11.3-million school houses just over 450 students from Grade Primary to Grade 12. It opened less than a month ago on Jan. 7 replacing the town's aging elementary and high schools.
Working with public works crews from the Town of Oxford, a temporary fix has been put in place with the toilets being supplied by the municipal water supply just as the school's sinks and water fountains are.
"It's our understanding the situation has been rectified and there will be school on Thursday," Pierce said.
The Oxford area, like all of Cumberland County and Nova Scotia, has been in the deep freeze for several days with overnight temperatures Wednesday in the -20 C range.
While unfortunate, Pierce said glitches such as this can be expected with a new facility.
dcole@amherstdaily.com
