Jackson teacher’s union president says they fear kids will be displaced as the city is still without drinking water

A Salvation Army member places cases of water inside a waiting vehicle in Jackson, Miss. , Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022.

The organization and a local Walmart store established a mid-morning distribution site to assist water needy residents. Associated Press Jackson, Mississippi’s main water treatment facility began to fail on Monday. The president of the Jackson Teachers Association told Insider that he is worried children may become displaced due to the water crisis.

George Stewart said his family has spent “maybe $100 to $200” on bottled water to drink and brush their teeth with. Jackson, Mississippi, is still without safe drinking water and some parts of the city do not have enough water pressure to flush toilets after the city’s main water treatment facility began failing on Monday.  George Stewart, the president of the Jackson Teacher’s Association, told Insider that teachers in Jackson are “very concerned about our students” because “this is a time where students can become displaced,”  making them less likely to participate in school.

The organization also wants state and local leadership “put the funding in place to fix infrastructure issue that caused this causing this,” Stewart said. Gov. Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and said the state is “cash flowing” funds to support emergency maintenance, repairs, and improvements on the city’s water treatment facility to get it back to fully operational as quickly as possible.

Stewart is an independent studies teacher at Whitten Middle School in Jackson. All schools in the Jackson Public School District transitioned to virtual learning for the first time this year on Monday after Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a state of emergency due to the water crisis. Water crisis exacerbates remote learning problemsStewart said that making sure all of his students have access to Wi-Fi has been an issue since the transition and parents have told him that finding access to childcare during the day has been hard, which can force parents to leave the city with their children.

“We have quite a few students who are experiencing no water at all,” he added. JPS did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment. Jackson had already been under a boil water notice from the Mississippi State Department of Health for a month when the water system started to fail.

Reeves warned residents; “Do not drink the water. In too many cases, it is raw water from the reservoir being pushed through the pipes,” in a press release on Tuesday. Stewart lives in Byram, a suburb about 12 miles South West of Jackson which uses the same water and sewer systems that the city does.

Stewart estimated that his family spent “maybe about $100 to $200” on bottled water for his family to use to drink and brush their teeth since the boil water notice took effect. All Jackson public schools are still offering breakfast and lunch to students that can be picked up at all school sites except Forest Hill High School and are offering portable restrooms at athletic events. Are you a resident of Jackson dealing with this water crisis? Email this reporter at kniemeyer@insider.

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