AUSTIN, Texas — An East Austin middle school will be closed for the rest of the week after a fire on Monday night, Aug. 19. Classes will resume on Monday, Aug. 26.
At approximately 10:40 p.m. on Monday, the Austin Fire Department (AFD) said crews were called to the scene at Kealing Middle School, with smoke on the second floor and an electrical burning smell.
The incident was second-alarm with fire in the wall. Crews used drones to assist with finding "heat signatures" and an aerial view of the scene.
Just after 11 p.m., the fire was under control. No injuries were reported. Fire crews worked to remove smoke from the building, airing out the building by utilizing fans.
The school provided an update on Tuesday morning, saying that investigators had determined an overloaded outlet sparked the fire. The fire was isolated to the orange hallway with both upstairs and downstairs sustaining damage from the fire, smoke and water, Austin ISD said.
Classes were canceled on Tuesday and Wednesday and, in an update on Wednesday evening, Austin ISD said classes will be canceled for the rest of the week for repairs.
When will students return to school?
Tuesday was set to be the first day of school for all Austin ISD students, but crews at Kealing said they need more time to repair any damage started by the fire and/or sprinklers.
Officials say restoration is continuing, including scrubbing the air, replacing all ceiling tiles and cleaning the HVAC system. Austin ISD said it has considered "a variety of spaces" as an alternative for the 1,300 students and staff, but there are no available options.
Austin ISD said due to significant damage to the HVAC ductwork, classes will not resume until Monday, Aug. 26. The school will then be on its normal schedule of 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Crews expect a temporary HVAC replacement to be completed by Saturday, which will allow staff to come to campus on Sunday as needed to make any final preparations to their classrooms and work spaces. A few classrooms may take longer to restore, and there is a plan to temporarily relocate those classes.
One parent told KVUE the overnight decision to close the school on Tuesday left some parents out of the loop.
"As we pulled up to the school, we were talking in the truck about, 'Where is everybody?' And the kids were like, 'Oh, we must just be here super early,'" Joanne Crompton said. "And then we pulled up and spoke to the principal, and she let us know about the fire."
Any students who need to be on campus have a safe space with activities in the gym and cafeteria, which were unaffected by the fire. The school is also offering bagged lunches from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the back of the school, off Salina Street, near the gym foyer. Buses will continue to run normal routes in the morning and afternoon to transport any students who need to come to the campus.
"We recognize that this is not the back-to-school experience our students and families deserve and we thank our families for their patience as we develop an alternative back-to-school plan," Austin ISD said in a statement.
Kealing will not have to add school days to its calendar, according to Austin ISD. The district has applied for a waiver from TEA for the lost learning time. Depending on its decision, the school may have to extend the school day by a few minutes for the remainder of the year.
AFD also responded to Kealing in 2022 after a refrigerator malfunction caused a fire in the teachers’ lounge.