Frozen Gas Lines Close Jennings Schools

Frozen gas lines shut down the heater at Jennings Schools Wednesday morning, forcing the superintendent to cancel classes for the second day in a row.

When the doors opened at Jennings Schools Wednesday morning, it wasn't the warmth that greeted students and teachers but the cold.

Superintendent Derrick Meador says none of the classrooms had working heat; some of the rooms dipped to 40 degrees in a little under an hour.

A gas line had frozen over and caused the schools heat to crash. Meador says the gas company wasn't sure how long it would take to fix the lines.

Staff quickly herded all 215 students into the cafeteria, the only room in the building with working heat, fed the students breakfast and started calling parents to come pick up their students.

"With not knowing exactly how long it was gonna be, we felt the best option this morning to protect our kids and keep them safe was to go ahead and send them home because it could've been one or two o’clock this afternoon,” said Meador.

Meador says the situation isn't ideal for students because they’ve already missed the first two days of the week for the holiday and cold weather.

"It's mother nature,” he said. “There is not much you can do about it. You just fight through the adversity and move on and hopefully have a normal two days to finish up the week."

Meador says the heat is back on and classes will start at normal time Thursday.