UPDATE: FCCPS Will Open on Regular Schedule Friday; Preschool Two-Hour Delay

Water problems are plaguing areas of Falls Church and could impact whether one elementary school opens on Friday. Here's the latest from Fairfax Water. The update is followed by an alert today from FCCPS.

UPDATE: 

With completion of water main repair work Thursday evening, Falls Church City Public Schools will open on regular schedule on Friday, Jan. 24.  

Preschool will operate on a 2-hour delay due to frozen water lines unrelated to the water main break.

UPDATE from Fairfax Water at 7:24 p.m.:

Fairfax Water says: Fairfax Water is aware of low water pressure issues in the areas east of Interstate 66, north of Lee Highway, south of Great Falls Street, in and around Shreve Road and the Falls Church area. Fairfax Water crews are currently investigating the cause of the issue. Customers in the area may experience periods of no water or low water pressure until the issues are identified and repairs are completed.  http://www.fcwa.org/

Thomas Jefferson Elementary operations are also in flux due to earlier frozen water line issues unrelated to the water main break.  As previously announced, should we be able to open Thomas Jefferson Elementary on time, Preschool will still operate on a 2-hour delay.

We will update you on the FCCPS operational status no later than 10pm tonight or as soon as further information becomes available.

What a week.

UPDATED: 5:32 p.m.

All Afternoon and Evening activities at Falls Church City Public Schools are cancelled due to a water main break.

UPDATED: 5:13 p.m.

Shortly before 4:00 p.m. today water service at Mount Daniel School, Mary Ellen Henderson and George Mason High School was cut off due to an apparent water line break affecting those schools and surrounding neighborhoods.  

Mount Daniel Day Care students were transferred to Thomas Jefferson Elementary at 4:45 p.m.  Parents were asked to pick up their students as soon as possible at TJ.  ASAP program students remained at MEH, but parents were also encouraged to pick them up as soon as possible.

We will continue to update as soon as more information is known.  But for now, obviously the operational schedule for FCCPS depends on what Fairfax Water finds and how quickly repairs can be made.  Water service is absolutely necessary in order to open a school building as it is used for Fire Sprinkler systems, personal sanitation and cooking.  In addition, the heating systems at Mount Daniel School and George Mason High are run with the use of water.

So it is very simple - no water, no school.  We are hoping this not to be the case and we will be monitoring the situation through the evening as work progresses to locate, repair and return systems to operational status.

We hope for a quick resolution tonight and we're back in operation tomorrow.  But parents/students are asked to please stand by for further word and make plans now should it become necessary to cancel school or delay opening tomorrow.