Students’ returned from Winter break on Monday January 4th was disrupted by the fire alarm system, preventing students and teachers from entering the building.

Around 6:58 that morning, the fire alarms went off due to a faulty valve on one of the water
lines. Students were not allowed to enter the building for about an hour and were kept in cars or on buses. The line of cars and buses backed up traffic on Rogues Road causing students and teachers to be late to school.

The fire alarms also went off on Monday, January 11, during second block. There was even speculation that school would be cancelled because of them.

“The building was evacuated and students were not permitted to enter the building until 7:50 am upon the arrival of the FCPS maintenance team,” said assistant principal Linda Lee in an email to the staff regarding the January 4th incident.

During the first incident, junior Meyrem Baer had to wait on her bus for an additional 30 minutes due to the alarm but was not annoyed by it. “I got to sleep longer on the bus, so all was good,” Baer said.

Sophomore Rachel Dorion was also kept on her bus for an hour. “My driver needed to take some middle schoolers to Auburn, so 20 high schoolers had to smush into some other bus,” she added.

Meanwhile junior Danielle Arthaud had to wait for an hour in her car. She was less than pleased about it saying it wasted her gas and her morning. “I lost valuable learning time,” she added sarcastically.

Senior Amy Tullington said she was stuck in traffic for “a good thirty minutes.” But she was happy that she got to stay in her car.

“I was in a car outside of the school and people in the line were turning around and leaving,” said senior Brittany Kerns.

Students had different beliefs about the cause for the alarm.

Some students hoped that the incidence would lead to a school closure.

“I was hoping it was a gas leak or something that would get us out of school,” said Tullington. “Obviously the school wasn’t built very well if it’s already breaking,” she added.

When the alarms went off the second time, students were forced to wait outside in 20 degree weather.

“It was so cold outside, and they should have told us what was going on,” said Arthaud. Tullington seemed to agree. “They should have everything under control and not force us to stay outside in the freezing cold for 15 minutes.”

The second incidence was less welcome among some students.

“The second one really made me angry, because we were in Culinary Arts and we had a pizza in the oven,” Dorion said. “It totally could’ve started a real fire.”

After students were allowed back into the building, they had to sit in the gym. Dorion was unhappy about this asking why students couldn’t just sit in their classes.

“They herded us into the gym like sheep,” Tullington said. “We could have been back in our class finishing up the pizza we were making.”