Barranquilla suspends in-person classes during 19-hour water outage

Barranquilla’s 190,000 public-school students will stay home on Tuesday, Sept. 1, while the city’s water system undergoes scheduled work expected to last nearly 19 hours.

The district government suspended in-person attendance at all 150 official schools as a preventive measure. Students will not have a day off: schools will organize asynchronous academic activities through guidance, study materials and other instructions sent to families.

Triple A scheduled work on the water infrastructure from 4:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. The company’s general manager, Ramón Hemer, had recommended avoiding in-person classes because the interruption could create problems at schools.

The city said the suspension would apply across the district, regardless of whether individual neighborhoods experience the same level of disruption. Authorities cited the need for running water in bathrooms, kitchens, cafeterias and other school operations involving students, teachers and staff.

Parents and students were asked to follow each school’s communication channels for details of the day’s assignments. Among the planned projects is the first phase of a new 20-inch PVC pipeline on Carrera 2 Sur, between streets 110 and 98, designed to strengthen water supply to southwestern Barranquilla.