Dedham High, Middle Schools Loses Power Twice

DEDHAM, MA — Like some places this week, Dedham High and Middle Schools found themselves in the dark Tuesday and Wednesday.

Superintendent Michael Welsh told the school committee Wednesday night that the first power outage occurred at about 2 a.m. early Tuesday morning, with power restored at about 5:45 a.m. Welsh told the school committee that the problem was caused by a transformer that was moved from the basement of the high school to an outside area over the summer and was reconnected during the December break. Backup generators that were supposed to kick in did not because they were not tied in property.

The outage meant a day of restoring network equipment and phone lines, but the power went out again at both schools Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., with the phones staying on and one generator kicking in.

Despite the outage, Welsh said that students continued to take mid-year exams, noting that he received photos of students in windowless rooms using the flashlights on their phones to continue taking exams.

Wind was a major issue Monday night and Tuesday morning, with the National Weather Service projecting 20-23 mph with gusts of up to 50 mph Monday into Tuesday.

Image: File Photo