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It was a bit of a challenge for teachers and students at all Cumberland schools Friday, as the lights went out during afternoon classes. This was due to a malfunction of an electrical pole on Route 60, an issue that knocked out power to a total of 308 homes, as well as every school in the Cumberland system. 

All the lights didn’t go out for long, as each Cumberland school had a generator that kicked in, keeping some things going. But administrators applauded how the staff handled the situation, continuing to teach with dim or in some cases flickering lights and no wifi to connect laptops or other devices to the internet. Classes stayed on a regular schedule, despite the outage, and students got out and got home on time. 

“Despite the power outage affecting all of our  buildings, our CuCPS team handled the situation like rockstars,” said Cumberland superintendent Chip Jones. “Our school generators kept certain things running, but it was our staff’s flexibility, problem-solving, and dedication that kept everything on track.” 

Dominion Energy officials said it took work crews a couple hours to identify the problem and be able to fix it, but that was taken care of Friday afternoon. When students and staff return to class on Monday, things will be back to normal. The same goes for residents in the area, who had lights turn back on by 5 p.m. Jones said he appreciated everyone who helped keep things on track Friday at each of the Cumberland schools. 

“Huge thanks to everyone for their hard work and commitment to our students and school community,” Jones said.