Getty Images/iStockphoto
Flashlight and a beam of light in darkness. A modern led light with bright projection on dark wood table. Surface with copy space.
On September 3, a power outage occurred at schools within our district and in some areas outside of Western Placer Unified School District. Carlin C. Coppin, First Street, and thousands of homes lost power.
The blackout lasted about 2–3 hours. The district sent a new generator after the original one failed. The exact cause of the outage remains unclear. Interestingly, it was mainly the schools and surrounding homes that lost power, while other nearby buildings were not affected. Mrs. Fernandez explained, “A transformer burst from what the district had told us.”
Teachers also faced challenges during the outage. Mrs. Hargis, an 8th-grade Language Arts teacher, shared her experience: “I tried to entertain the best I can with my students and that’s how I managed to keep everything under control. They were surprisingly calm and responsible as we did fun activities to pass the time.”
Communication became another major issue since phones, internet, and service were down. “Getting the information out to the staff and the students due to the phones not working and having students and staff stay in the same class for hours was a huge problem for us all,” Mrs. Fernandez said.
Students also had their own perspective. One student explained what it was like in Mr. Colson’s class: “Everyone was literally dying on the inside because of how hot it was and the nearest water fountain wasn’t even working, meaning we barely had any water. But since we were at P.E., we were passing and catching footballs and at least we had something to do to pass the time.”
Once power was restored, students were dismissed early at 12 p.m.