Heating issues at Wartburg Central Middle School forced administrators to send kids home for the day early Wednesday.

Morgan County Director of Schools Ronnie Wilson said a cooling tower in the HVAC system is failing. A stopgap measure had been implemented Tuesday, but another issue cropped up overnight, forcing administrators to send the school’s 287 students home at 9:15 Wednesday morning. At that time, the temperature in the school was 60 degrees.

A number of parents had expressed concern Tuesday that their children were at school with no heat.

Workers have been addressing the problem, and school officials are working on an alternate plan if repairmen are unable to fix it.

Wilson said the school system is working toward bidding out a replacement for the failed cooling tower.