Classes resume today at Rhea Middle School after water leak

Rhea Middle School continues to dry out, but students and teachers are back in the classrooms today after up to 50,000 gallons of water leaked into the school's main hallway early Saturday.

Students and teachers missed school Monday and Tuesday as the initial cleanup got going, school principal Doug Keylon said Wednesday.

Teachers returned on Wednesday to get their classrooms ready for students to return today, Keylon said.

A 2-inch water supply line burst around 3:45 a.m. Saturday, spraying 35,000 to 50,000 gallons of water into the main hallway and affecting 16 classrooms -- eight to 10 of them with "extensive" damage -- Keylon said. He said crews were forced to pull up carpet in the school's Little Theater.

School surveillance video shows the leak "looked like a garden hose" when the pipe burst, he said.

The school system's insurance policy is covering the cleanup, and officials are still working on estimated costs of repairs and drying out, he said.

Rhea Middle School was once Rhea County High School, built in 1974 and remodeled as a middle school in 2012, according to a historical account on the school website. The high school in 1974 was formed after consolidating Rhea Central High School and Spring City High School.

A new 332,000-square-foot high school was built next door and opened in 2013.

"It was a very, very bad situation that could have been much, much worse," Keylon said.

Work to replace some damaged wallboard will take place over the fall break in October, according to officials.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.

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