Flooding caused by pool leak sends Maine East students home early

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Students at Maine East High School in Park Ridge were sent home early Wednesday after a leak from the swimming pool flooded part of the school.

Maine Township School District 207 spokesman Dave Beery said a piece of glass covering a light fixture below the surface of the pool broke, causing water to rush into the void and through a storage room behind it.

About a third of the pool’s water drained into the storage room, hallways and a locker room on the southeast end of the school, he said.

School officials decided to close the school for the rest of the day because of the flood waters and the odor of pool chemicals in that part of the building, Beery said.

Students were dismissed for the day about 12:45 p.m.

Classes were scheduled to resume today.