DES MOINES, Iowa — A Timber Ridge Elementary School parent contacted Local 5 to share their concerns about the school's drinking water, saying they believed their child was sick Wednesday because of it.
The parent says their worries began after a water main break happened on school grounds, which they fear led to the contamination of the school water, potentially making their child sick. However, the school says that due to the timeline of the events unfolding, the child would not have come into contact with contaminated water.
The parent wanted to remain anonymous but did provide Local 5 with emails from the district regarding the water issue.
On Monday, Timber Ridge Elementary confirmed that a fire hydrant broke on school grounds. Later that evening, as it worked to fix it, the school water reportedly became contaminated with sediment. The district canceled classes the following Tuesday. When classes resumed on Wednesday, one parent contacted Local 5 and said their child drank the water and felt sick afterward.
While working on repairing the hydrant Monday night, Johnston Superintendent Nikki Roorda explained that she and the city determined the school's water needed to be tested for harmful bacteria.
"That caused us to need to cancel school for Timber Ridge on Tuesday, and then we notified our families about midday on Tuesday that we were planning to have a full day of regular school on Wednesday, anticipating our water report would come back clear," Superintendent Nikki Roorda said.
The district worked with the city to test if the water was safe. The City of Johnston confirmed that the school district had conducted disinfection and flushing of the water service. The city also stated that after disinfection and flushing the water service, the contractor pulled a sample from within the school to verify the water was safe. The city sent the water samples to Des Moines Water Works and tested them for total Coliforms and E. Coli. The water analysis results showed that the water was negative for both.
Classes resumed Wednesday, and the district offered water bottles to students even though the city deemed the school's water safe. It's important to note that the City of Johnston said samples were pulled before any students entered Timber Ridge Elementary School.
Roorda explains she's open to parents' feedback but remains firm that there was no threat to students.
"We would never want to bring students or staff back to a place where their water was not safe," Roorda said.
Johnston School District said that only three out of the 671 students called out sick Friday as of noon. To their knowledge, the three sicknesses were unrelated to the water.