Wheeling High School closed Sept. 8 for plumbing repairs

Wheeling High School will be closed Tuesday due to work crews conducting emergency plumbing repairs inside the school building.

The construction will block the front of the school and pathways leading to several academic areas, according to Northwest Suburban High School District 214, making safe passage by students and staff impossible.

Students and staff are expected to return to school on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

The district said Sept. 2 that before school opened in August a backup in a sewer line was discovered, caused by a blockage in a pipe beneath the main hallway outside the school cafeteria.

The backup occurred two more times, and the district said it could not wait until a longer break in the school schedule to fix the problem.

Workers started repairs on Sept. 2.

On Tuesday, work crews must replace the affected sewer pipe, restore the area and allow fresh concrete to cure before the hallway can support normal access, the district said.

The problem is confined to the decades-old school sewer system and does not affect the building’s air or water quality, the district said.

Though all school field trips and benchmark testing scheduled for Tuesday will be postponed, and the high school’s main office closed, athletic practices and games will go on as scheduled.

Student athletes should be dropped off by 3 p.m. Tuesday. Activity buses will take students home, with departures at 4:45 and 6 p.m.

In a message Friday to the Wheeling High School community, Principal Angela Hawkins said to expect additional time for arrival back to school on Wednesday due to work being done outside the school.

The main entrance and front parking lot will be open, but student drop-off will take place in the parking lot rather than at the curb, with traffic flow within the circular drive possibly adjusted for construction vehicles.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com