Anchorage’s Klatt Elementary closes Thursday and Friday due to a boiler issue

Anchorage’s Klatt Elementary closed and sent students home Thursday morning due to a problem with the school’s boiler.

The school district was unable to fix the issue by late Thursday, so Klatt Elementary will remain closed Friday and students and staff will have a remote learning day.

A spokesman with the Anchorage School District said the district is working to fix the issue at the South Anchorage school “rapidly.”

The boiler did not shut down entirely, said spokesman Corey Allen Young, but it wasn’t functioning correctly amid frigid conditions. The temperature inside the school dipped below 60 degrees, so the district opted to send students home, Young said.

Southcentral Alaska is currently in the midst of a cold snap, with temperatures dropping below minus 20 in Anchorage on Thursday.

[Gas supplies strained in Southcentral Alaska as cold deepens]

About 350 students attend Klatt.

Students who were at Klatt on Thursday morning were sent to the nearby Ocean View Elementary if caregivers weren’t immediately able to pick them up.

By late morning, Young said most students had been picked up by their families.