by Jessyca Cardinell

Gouverneur Central School was recently closed to its students on Thursday, September 27 and Friday, September 28, as per the GCS Superintendent Lauren French.

Busing was provided for those students attending St. James School and those needing transportation to schools outside the district.

“At 3:30 Wednesday, Middle School Principal Steve Coffin shared that there was a problem in the crawl space under the new construction area of the Middle School,” Superintendent French said. “Upon review we could not determine the amount, source or cause of the problem. The decision was made to close schools because at the time, we didn't have the presence of contractors until Thursday morning.”

Superintendent French stated that contractors were able to arrive Wednesday night and they were able to use their expertise and determine that a malfunction had taken place in the grinder station that allowed sewage to backup.

“They restarted the device, pumped out the waste and gave the area an initial cleaning. The contractors returned Thursday morning, the area remained clean, but the pump had shut itself off twice,” said Mrs. French, who stated from there more work needed to be accomplished in regards to the source of the electrical problem.

She stated the area was cleaned and sanitized once again, the staff and contractors hoped to have full understanding of the malfunction by Friday morning in order to prepare for the upcoming school week.

“I made the decision to close the school as it is in keeping with our philosophy: We will not comprise the student or staff safety,” said Mrs. French.