Students sent home during power outage

Jason E. Silvers/Tribune photo Construction workers and Fort Scott Fire Department personnel talk near a construction site at Winfield Scott School where an underground electrical line was struck, causing a power outage in the school. Students were sent home or to another school for the day.

A construction accident late Friday morning at Winfield Scott School resulted in the school being evacuated but no major consequences.

USD 234 Superintendent Bob Beckham said a construction worker who was digging as part of site work on the east side of the school struck an "unmarked" underground main electrical line leading into the building. The accident occurred about 11 a.m.

"From that moment on, staff at the school did a fantastic job of ensuring the kids' safety," Beckham said. "We did a fire alarm to get them out of the building."

Jason E. Silvers/Tribune photo Pictured from left are Fort Scott Police Department Sgt. Bob Jackson, School Resource Officer Joe Allen, FSPD Chief Travis Shelton and Capt. Shaun West conferring outside on the Winfield Scott playground.

Beckham said school officials followed emergency procedures and after he assessed the situation, he made the call to evacuate the school.

"There were three things I was concerned with when Westar (Energy) got on the scene," he said. "One, was it safe to go back in the building and if so, what is the timing of that? And then how do we feed and educate them if we go back in? I was assured there was no major safety concern but that it would be a pretty long time (before students and staff could return to normal school operations). So I think I made the right call to go ahead and send them home. It would have been a pretty rough afternoon in the dark."

As far as the site where the problem occurred, Beckham said there was "limited flame" in the hole where the line was struck and there was "no smoke damage." Beckham said information he got from workers was there were "several problems with the power line" and its location.

Jason E. Silvers/Tribune photo Winfield Scott School Principal Marianna Daugherty and USD 234 Superintendent Bob Beckham talk outside on the school's playground.

"It was shallow and unmarked," he said. "I was told it was put in sometime back in the 1960s."

Beckham said there was no fire inside the school building and there was no structural damage.

"There was just a very faint electrical smell," he said. "There were so many things that could have made that situation much worse."

Beckham said staff in various departments throughout the school district worked together to coordinate transportation and pick-up of students. School officials contacted parents to pick students up from school. Others were transported to Eugene Ware School, where staff took care of a small number of students until the end of the school day.

"Staff made sure students were safe," he said. "We got help from Eugene Ware staff, who alerted parents who were available to come pick up their kids to do so. We took them off to the south side of the playground. The ones whose parents we couldn't reach, we bussed them to Eugene Ware. The food service staff fed them at Eugene Ware."