Idaho Falls School District Schedules Weekend Tank Cleaning to Restore Skyline High School Air Conditioning
Crews are set to spend the weekend cleaning water tanks connected to the air conditioning system at Skyline High School in Idaho Falls, as the district works to bring the system back online safely after an odor problem forced multiple days of canceled classes last month.
Idaho Falls School District 91 Superintendent Karla LaOrange informed parents this week that the district has contracted with Bio One to perform the cleaning work on Saturday, May 9, and Sunday, May 10. The work is a critical step in certifying the system is ready to return to full operation.
Timeline for Restoring the AC System
Once the weekend cleaning is complete, the tanks are scheduled to be refilled with water on Monday, May 11, and treated according to recommended protocols. If that process goes as planned, the air conditioning system is expected to be switched back on around 4:30 p.m. that same day. District officials indicated they will continue monitoring and testing the system to confirm it is functioning correctly before considering the matter resolved.
The repairs come after the AC system began emitting a foul odor last month, traced to stagnant water sitting in the cooling tanks. The problem was significant enough to prompt the district to cancel classes at Skyline for several days — an outcome that disrupted students, families, and staff during a stretch of the school year when instructional time is already at a premium heading into final exams and year-end activities.
Stagnant water in HVAC cooling systems is a known maintenance concern. When water sits without proper circulation or treatment, it can become a breeding ground for bacteria and produce the kind of unpleasant odors that triggered the Skyline closure. Identifying and addressing the root cause before reactivating the system is essential to preventing a repeat of the same problem.
District Moving Toward Systemwide Maintenance Plan
Beyond the immediate repairs at Skyline, District 91 is taking a broader look at how it maintains heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment across all its facilities. The district has engaged an engineer from Project E to develop a comprehensive maintenance plan covering every HVAC system in the district. Once finalized, the plan will be posted publicly on the district’s website, giving parents and community members the ability to review how the district intends to keep its buildings safe and operational.
The move toward a formalized, districtwide maintenance schedule reflects a recognition that aging or improperly maintained HVAC systems can pose real disruptions to the school calendar — and potentially to student and staff health. Proactive maintenance planning is generally viewed as more cost-effective for school districts than reactive emergency repairs, which can be both expensive and disruptive.
The situation at Skyline is not the only recent example of facility challenges affecting students in the region. Hawthorne Middle School was forced to close temporarily due to a plumbing issue, underscoring the importance of ongoing attention to aging school infrastructure across the area.
For families in the Idaho Falls district, the weekend work represents welcome progress after weeks of uncertainty about when normal conditions at Skyline would be restored. The district’s decision to bring in outside specialists and pair the repairs with a longer-term maintenance strategy suggests officials are committed to making sure the problem does not recur.
Students and parents can expect the district to provide further updates if any complications arise during the refilling and testing process on Monday.
What Comes Next
Bio One crews are scheduled to complete tank cleaning by the end of Sunday, May 10. On Monday, tanks will be refilled and chemically treated, with the air conditioning system expected to activate by late afternoon. District 91 will continue monitoring the system in the days that follow. The comprehensive HVAC maintenance plan developed with Project E is expected to be published on the district website once finalized, establishing a new standard for how the district manages its building systems going forward.