Shawnee Mission East was one of 1,091 customers who experienced a power outage earlier this afternoon in the Prairie Village area according to Kansas City Power and Light.
Power was out schoolwide and in the surrounding neighborhood, including the residential neighborhood and PV shopping center.
It was restored before fifth hour came to an end at approximately 12:41 p.m.
The outage area spread from Metcalf and 74th in the northwest to Mission and 79th in the southeast.
School administrators immediately responded to the outage by contacting KCP&L as well as the district electricians who were able to arrive just as the power came back on.
Principal Scott Sherman made sure to take the necessary steps in plan following a power outage at the school including making sure all students were safe and secure and informing them as soon they had information to share. Although this outage was short term, administration says they have plans in place if it became a long term issue.
“If it would have become a long term issue, we would have tried to communicate out as much as we can to the parents,” Sherman said “And if we know the power is not going to come back on then we would have buses come for students who need buses and dismiss the school. The release would depend on the communication we have with KCP&L.”
According to a customer service representative from KCP&L, the outage was first reported at 12:15 p.m.
KCP&L has yet to identify the cause of the outage, but according to Sherman in an email sent to the teachers, the outage had been due to a fallen tree limb on a major power line.
More updates to come as soon as new information is acquired.