Electrical issues linger at Dearborn Crestwood schools; district to close for a day
All schools in the Crestwood School District in Dearborn, Michigan, will be closed on Thursday, March 19, to allow for repairs to building electrical systems.
School officials relayed that decision on Tuesday, recounting recent damage from high winds and contractor schedules for repairs.
The problems began on March 5, when intermittent power outages affected both Crestwood High School and Kinloch Elementary, district officials said. Later that evening, Crestwood High School had a complete power loss traced to faulty underground wiring dating to its original construction. As crews investigated the situation, they learned that the underground wiring was significantly damaged and needed replacement.
A backup generator provided power to servers and wi-fi systems, and a larger generator was placed on site to power the high school.
"Unlike typical home generators, these large units are the size of a small RV and must provide massive wattage to power all school building functionalities, not just lighting," the district said.
That generator then had a mechanical issue that prevented school from opening on March 12.
The March 13 wind storm resulted in a power loss for much of the Kinloch campus, and students at that school were sent home early.
"On Thursday, March 19, 2026, we will finalize the connection of the new wiring, which requires shutting down all power to Crestwood High School, this includes disconnecting all generators. This will impact our network servers and Wi-Fi across the entire district," school officials said.
"Therefore, for safety and security reasons, the entire Crestwood School District will be closed on Thursday, March 19, 2026, as our schools will not have access to the necessary network and phone systems in the case of an emergency. This was the only date wherein we could confirm all contractors necessary to complete the task would be on site at the same time."
The above video originally aired on March 13, 2026.
