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A city schools of Decatur bus. Photo from CSD Facebook page.

City Schools of Decatur will reopen on Thursday, March 8, after being closed on Wednesday due to a water main break.

Here is the full announcement from CSD:

City Schools of Decatur will open schools and offices tomorrow, Thursday, March 8, 2018. We encourage all students to bring a full water bottle. Our area is under a boil water advisory. As long as this advisory remains, please use bottled water or boil water that you send with your student. Bottled water in limited quantities will be available at all schools for medications and other student or staff needs. Breakfast and lunch will be served as normal. Nutrition staff will boil all water used for food preparation in our kitchens.

DeKalb County Schools will open tomorrow, too. More from DeKalb:

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA. – After consulting with local government and health officials, the DeKalb County School District (DCSD) will reopen on Thursday, March 8, 2018.

“We have been in constant dialogue with our partners at DeKalb County and the DeKalb County Board of Health. Following that consultation, we will reopen our campuses while taking great care to ensure we have a healthy learning environment,” said Superintendent/CEO R. Stephen Green. “We have a good plan that covers sanitation, food service and other aspects of our operations impacted by the water event today. We’ll be ready for our students.”

“As importantly, we ask each of our partners and patrons to contribute or donate water, and perhaps hand sanitizers, directly to our campuses,” Green added. “For many reasons, having an abundant supply of drinking water throughout the day is important.“

DCSD will take the following steps as students return to class:

•    Flushing the water sources at campuses and offices. Custodians and maintenance staff will begin to flush all toilets and sinks to release water impacted by the boil order. This process will continue throughout the day.

•    Covering sinks and water fountains. This will prevent use by building occupants as the water system is flushed.

•    Importing fresh drinking water. The district will bring in water for food preparation, consumption and handwashing. DCSD is also seeking assistance from business, churches and community partners in providing bottled water for students. Parents are also encouraged to send their child to school with bottled water, if able.

•    Using hand sanitizer to keep avoid contamination. The district will provide additional sanitizer to each campus. Parents are also encouraged to send their child to school with sanitizer.

•    Providing nutritious lunches per Georgia food service regulations. The district will avoid providing meals that require the use of water in preparation. Student will receive a modified prepackaged breakfast/snack. The district will also provide a lunch consisting of water-free preparation such as a sandwich, tossed salad and other similar foods.

•    Working with the Board of Health. DCSD is committed to following regulations governing loss of water service in its schools. The partnership between the Health Board and DCSD will provide the safest, healthiest environment for students.

The county has isolated the break in the 48 inch main and repairs have begun. Also, several restaurants are opening their doors tonight. A boil water advisory remains in effect, however.

The county released the following update late Wednesday afternoon:

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DECATUR, Ga. – DeKalb County Watershed Management has mobilized a contractor and delivered equipment to the site of the 48-inch water main that broke earlier Wednesday morning near Buford Highway. County crews are assessing the damage and removing debris so repair work can begin.

The cleanup of Buford Highway is 85 percent complete and portions of the road are estimated to reopen shortly. Georgia Department of Transportation crews are onsite evaluating the roadway.

Though water pressure continues to increase in the county, a boil water advisory is still in effect. All customers that have experienced water outages and/or low water pressures are advised to boil all water prior to use for drinking, cooking, or preparing baby food. The water should be boiled for at least one minute after reaching a rolling boil. Customers should continue to boil their water until they are notified that the water system has been restored to full operation, and that the microbiological quality of the water in the distribution system is safe for human consumption.

Visit www.dekalbcountyga.gov for updates during the water main break event.

While the possibility of restaurants opening this evening looked doubtful this morning, the restoration of water pressure has caused many restaurants to open their doors this evening. Decaturish posted a thread of restaurant openings on the Decaturish Facebook page. To see the full list of restaurants that are open, click here.

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