Wheeling High School classes, acitivities canceled after power outage

Wheeling High School canceled classes and most after-school activities Tuesday after a power outage left the school building without heat or electricity, officials said.

The only scheduled event expected to take place was the boys basketball games against Fremd High School, but the contest was moved to Fremd’s homecourt in Palatine, according to a notice posted on the school website Tuesday afternoon.

School officials decided to call off classes early Tuesday and send all students home because of the outage, said Venetia Miles, spokeswoman for Northwest Suburban High School District 214.

The power reportedly went out before 6 a.m., and by 7:30 a.m. district officials made the call to send students home, Miles said. Buses were brought back to help take home students who were already at school.

There are 1,900 students and 200 staff members at Wheeling High School. The other five District 214 high schools were not affected.

The temperature in Wheeling Tuesday morning was 15 degrees but felt below zero because of the wind chill, according to the National Weather Service.

The cause of the outage is still unknown, and ComEd worked throughout the day to restore power.

Miles said school is expected to reopen Wednesday.