Power outage sends some Saline students home early

A power outage on December 15 impacted some buildings in Saline Area Schools (SAS) and led to an early day for students.

SAS said four of its buildings lost power just before 10 a.m. that Friday morning.

“School officials immediately reached out to DTE, school principals, food service, and transportation to assess the situation,” Jackelyn Martin, Executive Director of Communications and Community Relations, told media sources. “DTE estimated that power would be restored between 2-4 p.m. Due to dark internal classrooms and the inability to complete food service in all impacted buildings, school officials made the decision to release Middle School and Liberty School at 12:00 p.m. and Heritage and Woodland Meadows at 1:00 p.m.”

The source of the power outage was identified by DTE as originating at a substation near Dundee, according to the school district.

Saline High School, Pleasant Ridge and Harvest operated following their normal building schedules that day.

Martin said the early dismissal process was already underway when power was restored just before 12 p.m. After-school activities in impacted buildings were cancelled as originally announced.

“We are extremely grateful to our bus drivers who responded quickly to a last-minute call-in, our building principals and office staff who led efforts in buildings, and our families for their patience and flexibility as we crafted a plan,” SAS Superintendent Stephen Laatsch said.