Some Students in Fairhaven, New Bedford Being Dismissed Early

Some local students are being sent home from school early on their first day back from winter break.

A burst water pipe at the East Fairhaven school has forced school officials to dismiss students immediately. An all-call is going out to parents as school officials begin to organize dismissal.

Superintendent Dr. Robert Baldwin says children are being kept in warm rooms and offered lunch until they can be dismissed into the care of a parent or guardian on the emergency contact list, either at the school or from the bus. If students are bused home and nobody from the contact list is there to meet them, the students will be returned to the school and the process repeated until a parent or guardian is available.

Roosevelt Middle School in New Bedford is also dismissing students at this hour, after a mechanical failure of a water meter due to the extreme cold resulted in the school being without water.

New Bedford Schools spokesman Arthur Motta says the school is following normal dismissal procedures. He says the school is expected to be open tomorrow.