Copyright Salt Lake Tribune
After months of trying to find the source of an intermittent sewer smell at Open Classroom, a charter school sponsored by the Salt Lake City School District, officials discovered Tuesday that a fractured sewer line beneath the building was to blame. “Once we identified the extent of the issue, we took action right away,” said district spokesperson Yándary Chatwin. “We knew that we needed to transfer everyone to a temporary facility.” Students studied virtually on Wednesday while district officials prepared the former Hawthorne Elementary School building to temporarily accommodate Open Classroom’s roughly 260 students plus staff. They brought in desks, technology and other essentials, Chatwin said. Students officially relocated into the building Friday. Hawthorne is one of four elementary schools that closed in the fall of 2024, a little over a year after the district first began studying all 27 of its elementary schools’ boundaries and populations for potential closure. That study came after a 2022 state audit found the Salt Lake City School District was wasting millions in taxpayer dollars to keep emptying elementary schools open despite their declining enrollment. Hawthorne is now being used by the district’s team of behavior specialists, Chatwin said. District-level physical education and fine arts staff also use the office space there. They will continue using the space during Open Classroom’s time in the building. The building under repairs was constructed in the Avenues in 1960, when it was Lowell Elementary. The district closed Lowell in 2004. Open Classroom, founded in 1977, moved there in 2006. Officials have performed several “air quality readings,” at Open Classroom to ensure that there was no overgrowth of mold, mildew or bacteria. “All of them, thankfully, were below any levels that would be concerning,” Chatwin said. “We wanted to make sure that we were doing our due diligence in terms of any possible additional steps beyond just the sewage repair.” The repairs are expected to take approximately eight days, with staff and students expected to return to Open Classroom on Thursday.
