Cleveland High School students and teachers were evacuated from the building around 11:30 am today after raw sewage was discovered leaking from floor drains in the cafeteria and an attached classroom.
According to Cleveland teacher Steve Nims, students in the classroom began hearing gurgling sounds, but didn't discover the leak until they could smell it. Students initially pointed the finger at each other, asking who farted, Nims said. It soon became clear that the truth was much grosser.
PPS Media Relations Director Dave Northfield confirmed that the leak did occur and the school was evacuated.
As of 12:45 pm, PPS officials hadn’t reported the problem to the city.
“We have not heard about this,” said Diane Dulken, spokesperson for the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services. Based on information from the Mercury, Dulken said she’d alert officials in her bureau of the problem.
Harry Esteve, director of strategic communications and outreach for PPS, said that as of 1 pm, it was still unclear what caused the leakage, but that it was due to some sort of blockage in the sewer system.
It is also unclear whether the issue will be taken care of by class time tomorrow.
We should point out: PPS is in the midst of asking voters to approve an enormous $790 million property tax bond to fix up the city's aging schools. The Mercuryhas endorsed the measure.