Parental concerns rise over handling of sewage issue at SLC charter

SALT LAKE CITY — School district officials said they plan to allow students to return to a Salt Lake City charter school later this week, after it faced sewage repairs. Now, after the announcement on Monday, several parents are concerned about how the situation is being handled.

Last week, students at Open Classroom, located at 134 D Street, were temporarily relocated to the dormant Hawthorne Elementary School at 1675 S. 600 East while repairs took place, with a plan to return kids to the Open Classroom campus on Thursday, Nov. 6.

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On Monday afternoon, district spokesperson Yandary Chatwin confirmed that plan was still on track.

Some parents, including Randi Iversen, raised concerns, however, that the return to the Open Classroom building was happening too fast.

“It seems like there’s been too much shadiness and not enough answers,” Iversen said during an interview with KSL TV. “There is no way this is fixed properly.”

Iversen said she was concerned about a potential ongoing health risk at the Open Classroom building, and she shared photos of the impacted area of the school, which she said validated those concerns.

The district has classified the pipe issue as a fracture, but Iversen disputed that based on the photos, which she said captured corrosion as well as an ample amount of sewage.

“You can tell on the pipe there are multiple patches on it,” Iversen said. “Based off of the pictures, there’s most likely corrosion all the way up through the school as well as all the way down into the concrete.”

Iversen also raised concerns about filming taking place at Hawthorne Elementary as a possible reason why Open Classroom students were being moved back to their building so quickly.

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While Chatwin acknowledged some filming had been taking place at Hawthorne recently, she said she was still looking into the parent’s questions about the filming and about any possible health risk.

She underscored that the district had conducted testing on the air and environment since the sewage issue.

Iversen questioned why Open Classroom students couldn’t remain at Hawthorne Elementary longer or permanently.

“This is better located, it is a newer school,” Iversen said. “It doesn’t make sense why we should be in a school that most likely — highly likely — has a domino of problems over there.”