According to power company Evergy, a power outage impacted the area from 99th St. to 107th St. between Nall and Roe, including SM South, as of 1:29 p.m. Lights were out in the building, except for emergency lights.
According to social studies teacher Liz Gebhardt, students in at least three classrooms without emergency lights relocated to the cafeteria. Students were not permitted to leave the building before the regular release time at 2:40.
Staff adapted to help in whatever ways they could. Many teachers and counselors were in the halls.
“Right now, we are needed in the hallway,” Counselor Jennifer Herrmann said, “monitoring and helping ensure safety during the time that the power’s out.”
Students were told to stay inside of classrooms except when necessary.
“I’m a little confused at the moment,” sophomore Lily Kistner said. “This has never really happened before when I’ve been here.”
Power returned at 2:13 p.m.
Updates will be added as they develop.
Written by Ren Park
Reporting by Evyn Haas, Samara Rowe, Levi Robertson, Mariam Mohamed, Crystal Etcitty-Fridlington and Jameson Peeples
