Citing concerns with student and staff safety, both El Reno Public Schools and Redlands Community College closed their campuses for a second straight day on Thursday. Sacred Heart Catholic School was also closed.

It was the second day of closures for both due to the lack of constant water pressure from the City of El Reno due to a rural broken water mainline. Redlands closed its campus at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

Union City Public Schools, which held classes on Wednesday, were also closed on Thursday. The town of Union City gets its water from El Reno.

El Reno was the first to close its buildings on Wednesday. 

“The city manager and I talked and we thought that with the safety concerns, it definitely was not worth taking a risk over. We want to have school, but you've got to do what’s safe. We don’t want to put children at risk,” said El Reno Superintendent Matt Goucher.

Goucher said concerns over constant water pressure for building fire suppression systems forced the closing.

Two of the district’s sites, Lincoln and Roblyer Learning Centers, are next to Interstate 40 but on the north side.

Water service south of Interstate 40 and west of U.S. 81 was shut off by the city Wednesday due to dangerous levels of water in the city’s towers.

Due to the ending of virtual learning days, Goucher said the district will use snow days already built into the 2026-27 calendar to cover the closings. The district has five such days and when those are exhausted, any future closings will have to be made up.

“Until we run out of our snow days, we won’t have to make anything up,” said Goucher.

Redlands also had concerns over pressure for fire suppression systems and pressure at its Cougar Crossings Apartments, which have been temporarily closed to its 220-plus residents.

“We will continue to be closed on Thursday while the city’s water situation is being resolved. The health and safety of our students and employees is a priority.

“We have encouraged our residential students to return home for now, and we have helped non-local students find alternative accommodations. We are thankful for our community partners who have stepped up to support our students,” said Redlands President Jena Marr.