Carlmont High School students arrived on Sept. 11 to find a school-wide power outage in full swing.
The power reportedly went out at 6:30 a.m., and the emergency generator failed to kick in. The power was restored at 8:20 a.m., but not before causing rumors regarding cancellation of classes.
Senior Sage Shamsai said, “I was really hoping that the power outage would allow us to go home early. Enjoying the full Friday off from school with my friends would have been amazing, especially since one of them was leaving for college.”
The Belmont Police Department reported that the power outage affected the area from Ralston Avenue to San Carlos Avenue west of Old County Road.
According to a staff email from Carlmont Principal Ralph Crame, the data center, phones, school bells, Internet, and announcement system were down. District staff are currently investigating the backup generator to find out why it didn’t restore the school’s power as it should have.
Junior Julia Kelly said, “I actually loved school without power. The lights are so harsh, and I felt like everything was quiet and peaceful. I wish school was not so bright all the time. However, I would say that learning was more difficult because the teachers are so dependent on their SMART Boards.”
The power stayed on until approximately 12:45 p.m., when it failed again for close to 20 minutes.
Senior Brent Jang said, “At first I was excited because I thought that we would get to go home, but after I heard administration saying that the power would come on soon it was just annoying because I knew we weren’t going to leave. My computer science class was pointless to say the least; the Internet was down and the power was inconsistent during my class so I couldn’t do anything.”
