Central High principal responds to video showing brown water on campus

CENTRAL - The principal of Central High School has responded to a video shared on social media which showed brown water spewing from a sink on campus.

The video, shared on Facebook Wednesday, showed a faucet sputtering what appeared to be brown, murky water. The video stirred up some amount of concern among parents.

Brandon LaGroue, the principal at Central High, responded to the uproar late Thursday morning, saying the video depicted a faucet used in a cooking lab. He said the water was briefly turned brown due to sediment build-up in the faucet, which hadn't been used for some time. The principal added that the water at the school was otherwise "clear, cold and refreshing."

You can read the full statement below:

"A photo circulated yesterday on social media has caused concern for some.

Let me provide explanatory context for the photo. The sink pictured is located in our Home Economics Lab (Kitchen), and when students were cleaning up after a cooking lab, water tainted with sediment briefly ran out of the hot water tap before running clear. The cold water from the same sink ran clear. The temporary discoloration from the hot water valve resulted from sediment sitting in hot water supply lines that have not been used regularly since the end of last school year. Maintenance personnel is addressing that issue.

The photo does not depict a water fountain or drinking water in any location here at Central High School. No reports of discolored water at drinking locations were ever reported, nor observed. My administrative team and myself inspected each water fountain yesterday afternoon and found that all water is clear, cold and refreshing, without any unusual odor or color. Tuesday evening, at our open house, parents used our water fountains, and no issues were reported. This morning, the Baton Rouge Parish Water Company tested our water and came to the same conclusion.

Once again, the water at Central High School is safe to drink."