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QUINCY, ILL. -- Classes are expected to resume Tuesday at Baldwin Intermediate School after a water-main break shut down classes Monday.

School was canceled and students sent home Monday after the leak forced crews to shut down water service. The gushing water also affected electricity in the building.

In the event that classes are cancelled, parents will be notified by the School Reach phone system, Assistant Superintendent Christie Dickens said.

A staff member arrived at the school about 7 a.m. Monday and noticed water gushing from the west side of the building near the 30th Street entrance.

A 50-year-old four-inch underground water line ruptured between the building and the street. The water flooded a tunnel beneath the building that houses electric lines.

"We had the water main line break on the outside so not only did we not have water or toilets in the building and we also had electrical issues because the water ran into the buildings and into the tunnels and it got high enough where it got into some electrical panels so we had to have Ameren come out and shut off electric to some of the sections of our building," QPS Director of Maintenance Dennis Peters said.

The flooding cut power to portions of the building. The repairs also meant that water wasn't available throughout the entire school.

School district officials made the decision to close the school about 7:40 a.m.

Parents were reached through the School Reach telephone system and through the media.

About 350 of the school's 1,500 students were brought to school.

School officials made direct contact with parents and guardians to make arrangements to go home. Some students took the bus back home while others went home with their parents.

No students were left unattended.

"It takes a lot of people supporting the process and a lot of decisions being made very much on the spot and making the best decisions that you can in a crisis point moment because the most important thing was that kids get home to a safe environment and the parent contact has been made," Christie Dickens said.

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