Heat, power go out at Little Village elementary on coldest day of winter
Corkery Elementary School | Google Street View
CHICAGO - A Little Village elementary school lost heat and electricity as temperatures plunged below zero Wednesday morning.
Engineers were called early in the morning to Corkery Elementary School, 2510 S. Kildare Ave., after a local power outage, according to Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman Sylvia Barragan.
Messages informing families was sent out prior to classes starting and staff shared the situation with parents and guardians as students were dropped off for classes beginning at 8 a.m., Barragan said.
Temperatures hit five below zero at that time, according to the National Weather Service. It is the coldest day since last February.
"It is unfortunate we communicated to you we have an emergency situation in which we are without electricity and heat," the school wrote in a message to families. " … The building is cold and we ask you to make the decision necessary if you are to keep your child home while the electricity is restored."
The letter noted that the phones at the school weren’t working, either.
Barragon said the power was restored at 9:35 a.m.
The outage was caused by a blown fuse in the neighborhood, a ComEd spokesperson said.