Classes resumed at the seventh- and eighth-grade building of Pine Bluff Junior High School on Thursday, one day after a gas leak caused an early dismissal of the students.
Pine Bluff School District Superintendent Jennifer Barbaree said an automobile ran through fencing in the back of the campus at about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, hours before the first bell.
The vehicle scraped off the gymnasium and then hit the back of the building, where the gas line was installed, she said.
School officials detected the smell of gas upon arrival, Barbaree said.
The campus, formerly known as Robert F. Morehead Middle School, was closed by 10:30 a.m.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The students were sent across the street to the PBJH Ninth-Grade Academy prior to the start of classes, the district said on social media.
Bus students were transported home and car riders were checked out from the Ninth-Grade Academy.
Pine Bluff fire personnel and Summit gas employees arrived, Barbaree said, and safety teams had cleared the Morehead campus by that afternoon.