By Kiara ViDemantay
Staff Writer
A damaged water line forced a mass evacuation of all students and employees at Antelope Valley College on Friday. At approximately 11:30 AM, a water pipe was damaged, leading to a complete campus-wide water outage. About 10 minutes later, AVC released a statement asking students and faculty to leave immediately. They stated that water services would resume by 5 PM that day and that evening activities would not be interfered with; this has not yet been confirmed.
SOAR High School students and faculty were quick to react to the breaking news as they were notified over text, email, and by word of mouthn. Photini Qarmout, a senior, shared her experience from the SOAR Student Wellness Center: “I got a call from AVC, and my friend got a text notification.” Freshman Adyan Nadeem learned about the water line issue from a peer. “I found out when a student from a different grade opened our classroom door and told us AVC had a water line problem.” Ms. Jobb, a teacher, shared that she first learned about the situation from her students. “I found out that AVC was closing buildings as some students came to my room when they were asked to leave Sage Hall. The students told me they were asked to leave AVC's campus. I then checked my phone and saw a message in our staff Groupme advising us of the situation and letting us know that Mrs. Johnston was discussing options with AVHSD's Superintendent.”
Reactions varied as those at SOAR and AVC came to realize what was going on. Students and staff alike were unsure of what came next, and safety was the top priority. Ms. Jobb reported that her experience was stressful, “The students seemed concerned and confused as to what they should do. I asked them to stay calm and immediately started looking for information so I could communicate with the students to let them know what was happening.” Valery Carrasco Morales, a Junior, recalled that she and those around her were pretty confused but also excited at the prospect of getting out of school early.
As news of the evacuation was finalized, many were able to find a silver lining in the chaotic incident: adding an extra day of rest to an already long three day weekend. The hallways were flooded with cheering students celebrating an early end to the day. Some, like Ms. Jobb, were disappointed to miss their classes. Asia Alexander, a junior, shared that although she was glad to go home early, she was concerned about being behind as a result. “I was really excited to have a four day weekend, but I am worried about what I missed in the classes I didn’t get to go to and since next week is only going to be four days, I don’t know if we'll be able to catch up.”
The incident has prompted questions and concerns about the stability and safety of AVC’s infrastructure, particularly amid ongoing construction. Ms. Jobb expressed frustration with recurring issues related to the building projects. “I am concerned that due to construction, parts of campus have lost power multiple times and now we lost access to water. I would like to know if there is a plan in place to prevent this from happening again.” AVC has not yet confirmed what exactly damaged the water line and if it is related to the construction. Classes are expected to resume on Tuesday as Monday is a holiday.
Comments