NATCHEZ — School is canceled today for Morgantown Middle School as workers try to fix a broken gas line that has disabled heating to the buildings.

The Natchez-Adams County School Board declared Morgantown to be in a state of emergency on Nov. 20 after a gas line ruptured on school property.

The original plan was to fix the rupture by the return of school on Nov. 27, but workers are waiting on a specially-ordered pipe to complete the repairs.

Superintendent Fred Butcher said he needed to cancel school today because the temperature is dropping and without heating, he does not want to risk any students getting sick.

“We already have a number of employees with the flu,” Butcher said. “It’s difficult to depend on any other type of heating in the building and we don’t want to expose students to that (colder temperatures).”

Butcher said he has received some complaints from parents in the week that school has been in session without heating at Morgantown, and that he hoped the problem could be fixed Wednesday.

Butcher said using electric heaters or another substitute for the heating system was not a feasible option.

The original gas leak was so severe that Atmos Energy immediately shut down the line when a parent smelled gas at a basketball game.

The repairs will replace gas lines across the school, but primarily focused around the cafeteria and gym, where the main leak was. The school board approved approximately $90,000 to complete the repairs on Nov. 20.

“We were hoping to have it completed by (Tuesday) but the weather moves us back to Wednesday,” Butcher said.

Butcher said he has reached out to the Mississippi Department of Education in the hopes of having Wednesday declared an emergency dismissal day.

If the department does not excuse the missed time, Butcher said the school could make up for the missed day on Friday, Dec. 21.

The ruptured gas line has disabled the Morgantown kitchen for the past week, but Public Relations Coordinator Steven Richardson said food has been shipped in from nearby schools to feed students in the interim.

“Anywhere there is an interruption to food delivery, we have to fall back on transport from nearby schools,” he said.

Butcher said Susie B. West Elementary School and McLaurin Middle School have been providing meals for Morgantown students for the past week.

The problem should be fixed today, but Butcher said if further complications arise school could be canceled Thursday as well.

“We have to let parents know in a timely manner,” Butcher said. “We’re going to see what we can get done.”