Sherman Elementary School is closed for the rest of today, October 23rd, due to a gas leak.
Students and staff were evacuated safely to the Roselle Park Middle School (RPMS) earlier this morning. They will remain at RPMS until 12:30 p.m. when they will be dismissed to a parent or guardian – starting with the youngest classes first (pre-k, kindergarten, 1st grade, etc.). Between now and then, there are planned activities to keep the children active.
According to Roselle Park School District Business Administrator Sue Guercio, this morning when staff arrived in the building, an odor was noticed and reported to the proper authorities – this was before students arrived. The Roselle Park Police Department (RPPD), the Roselle Park Fire Department (RPFD), and the gas company were all notified and arrived on-scene immediately. The issue was determined to be a tiny leak in one of the boilers. The boiler company was contacted immediately and arrived shortly thereafter to locate the problem and make a determination on how to repair it.
It is not known if the leak came the boiler that was replaced in 2014 (link).
Ms. Guercio stated, “The decision was made with the police department that the safest call, knowing the amount of time it would take for the repair work to happen, to have the children have an early dismissal.”
Only Sherman School students will be dismissed at 12:20 p.m. one grade-level at a time. All other schools will have a full day schedule.
There is a protocol in place in case a Sherman School student is not picked up by a parent or guardian in a timely manner today.
Additionally, the Work-Family Connection afterschool program is canceled for Sherman School students today.
The repair – at this time – is anticipated to be completed by the end of the school day. Any new information will be published as it is provided.