Classes canceled Thursday at Capitol Hill High

About 1,300 students who attend Capitol Hill High School will have to wait at least one more day before returning from winter break.

Oklahoma City Public Schools announced Wednesday that classes would be canceled Thursday — the first day for students following the 15-day break — because pipes feeding five heating units froze and burst.

The resulting water leaks caused $75,000 worth of damage at the school in south Oklahoma City and cut off heat to the cafeteria, kitchen and several classrooms, officials said.

“Although there is heat in the building for teachers and staff, we have opted to cancel classes for students to allow our district teams and contractors the opportunity to complete all repairs and cleanup activities, and to ensure our students are able to return to a safe learning environment,” spokeswoman Beth Harrison said in a statement.

“District leaders will monitor progress on these repairs closely and will provide an update tomorrow on when students might return.”

Scott Randall, the district’s chief operating officer, said coils attached to the units were “exposed to too much outside air” over the past several days, when temperatures were below freezing.

“So the coils actually froze,” he said. “When the coils freeze the lines burst.”

Five heating units valued at $5,000 each were damaged beyond repair along with a gym floor Randall said will cost $50,000 to replace.

“Those are older units that need to be replaced,” Randall said of systems that use a boiler and a chiller system to alternately heat and cool classrooms.

Bond money approved by voters in February will pay to replace the heating, ventilation and air conditioning units, he said.

Leaking water, meanwhile, warped a practice gym floor, Randall said.

“That floor is a loss,” he said. “We’re going to replace it with something more durable than a wood floor.”

Randall said about 95 percent of classrooms are heating fine, adding that other district schools “are in good shape.”

“We’ve had a unit here or there, but nothing close to what’s happened here,” he said.

Harrison said the district’s food truck will be at the school from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday to serve lunch to students who choose to drop by the campus.