A prolonged power outage forced Leesville Road High School, Middle School, and Elementary School in Raleigh to dismiss students early Wednesday.
The dismissal followed the power outage at the shared campus.
The outage disrupted the school day.
A Campus Built to Share Everything, Including Outages
The Leesville Road campus on Pride Way was built in 1993 to handle rapid residential growth in northwestern Raleigh, co-locating the elementary, middle, and high schools on one contiguous complex, according to Wikipedia. The three schools are located together on one contiguous complex. Leesville Road High School alone enrolls roughly 2,400 to 2,500 students, according to NeighborhoodScout data. Leesville Road Middle School is also on the site.
Third Utility-Driven Disruption in Two Weeks
Wednesday's outage is the latest in a string of infrastructure failures rattling Wake County schools and neighborhoods. Just two days earlier, a 30-inch water main break along NC 55 in Cary triggered a pressure advisory that forced 30 WCPSS schools across Cary and Morrisville to dismiss students early, as Hoodline detailed in its report on the Cary water main break. The Leesville Road corridor itself has a history of overhead line trouble: a fallen tree damaged a utility pole there, affecting roughly 550 Duke Energy customers and blocking traffic, according to WRAL.
Instructional Time and District Performance
The disruption raises questions about how an emergency-shortened school day affects instructional time. The disruption also puts a spotlight on district performance. The Wake County Public School System is the largest district in North Carolina and serves more than 157,000 students.
