UPDATE: On Friday, a Miami-Dade County Public Schools spokeswoman said running water was back at Carol City Middle School.
“The Department of Health rescinded the boil water notice for Carol City Middle School, following the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer work done to one of their water lines,” District Director of Communications Natalia Zea wrote in an email. “The water is fine to use now. Again, at no time were students without clean, bottled water for drinking and handwashing.”
ORIGINAL STORY: Carol City Middle School students in Miami Gardens haven’t had clean running water since Tuesday.
The schools’ toilets had filthy water and they have had to rely on water bottles to wash their hands to avoid infections during the coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, Miami-Dade County Public Schools released a statement saying school employees placed signs at the restrooms’ doors warning students “to not consume the water from sink faucets” and they had also removed water bottle filling stations and ice makers.
The problem at the school began with a damaged pipe, and the Miami-Dade County Water & Sewer Department issued a boil-water notice that also affected neighboring properties.
Darel Blakely, an area resident, said the issue needs to be fixed quickly. Having access to clean running water is more than a basic human right, and the children in the neighborhood really need a safe and welcoming school to stay on the right path.
“Our kids are already at risk,” Blakely said about the dangers the children face in the neighborhood, and he added, ”We just gotta make sure that they are taken care of.”