Chelsea High School Closed for Fly Infestation

Photo via iStock/GlobalP

William Golding’s 1954 novel Lord of the Flies is among the most commonly taught titles in high schools across the country. What is exponentially less common, however, is an insurrection of flies shuttering a high school.

Chelsea High School remains closed Monday and Tuesday as school officials work to rid the building of a fly infestation caused by at least four broken or cracked pipes beneath its foundation, the Globe reports. In order to fix it, engineers must bore through concrete to reach the pipes, which span roughly 1.5 acres beneath the school.

“Now that we have diagnosed the cause of the problem, we are turning our attention to fixing it,” Chelsea Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Mary Bourque said in the statement. “Because of the structural nature of this work, our engineers have been working to develop a plan for cutting through the slab of concrete to get to the cracked pipes.”

Nbs Chelsea high needa do something wit all these fruit flies. They everywhere

— Jorge DeJesus (@Fresh_boii_3) December 13, 2016

https://twitter.com/Stayce_bravo/status/808795537965219840

Bourque will decide Tuesday whether to keep school closed Wednesday as well. Chelsea High’s winter break runs from December 26 until January 3.