Miller-Driscoll School was closed Tuesday, Feb. 10, after a frozen pipe burst overnight, flooding a hallway and several classrooms during a week of frigid temperatures across Connecticut.
“You may or may not be aware, we’ve had a bit of a cold snap here,” Superintendent Kevin Smith said. “A pipe froze that brings water to a water fountain that’s mounted on an exterior wall. The pipe froze and it burst.”
The damage was discovered early Tuesday morning before school opened.
“When the custodian arrived to open the building this morning, he discovered about a half-inch of water on the floor in the hallway and under the doors,” Smith said.
The flooding affected three classrooms and the reading interventionist’s classroom along a corridor on one side of the building that leads toward the gymnasium.
“We didn’t know what the scope of the damage was, and we knew we had to turn the water off,” Smith said. “That’s why school was closed for the day.”
Smith credited the school’s 2017–2018 renovation for limiting the damage and any necessary remediation.
“The tile floor for sure helped, and even the carpet that was installed has an impervious base,” he said. “We can extract all the moisture, dry it, and then it’ll be fine. That flooring really saved us.”
Water extraction and drying began immediately Tuesday, with ServePro on site. An insurance adjuster was expected to assess the damage Wednesday.
“We don’t think there’s a ton of damage,” Smith said, noting that the pipe likely burst in the “wee hours” and water was not sitting for long.
Students in the affected classrooms will be relocated temporarily. Smith said those classes will remain out of their rooms for the rest of the week, with the district closed next week for break.
“Best case, we can get them back in by the time we return on the 23rd [of February],” he said.
Smith emphasized that the issue was not aging infrastructure but extreme cold.
“This is not like old pipes,” he said. “This is a frigid time here and an unusual situation. This is a frozen pipe and physics.” But it was a reminder of how prevention — and a bit good timing — can be important.
District Plant Manager Jose Figueroa and his team have been proactively monitoring all of Wilton’s school facilities throughout the cold spell.
“For the last week, Jose and his team have been monitoring all over the district, dripping water in sinks and checking areas of concern,” Smith said. “They were focused on sinks — they weren’t thinking about water fountains. Now they are.”
Figueroa directed staff Tuesday to inspect water lines serving fountains across the district.
Smith said the district was fortunate the pipe burst on a school day rather than over the upcoming break.
“How fortunate that it happened this week and not next week while we’re on break,” he said. “The custodian discovered it immediately when he came in. All of those things were on our side in this case.”
Smith also praised district staff for their quick response.
“I’m grateful that we have such a diligent staff,” he said. “They wasted no time responding to this. Let’s hope this is the only one of the year.”