Magnolia West's Well Ran Dry Twice. The School Lost Its Water, Its Air Conditioning and Two Days of Class.
By The Magnolia Standard · October 2, 2026
One well on FM 1774 runs the faucets and the cooling. This week it quit, came back, and quit again.
Students at Magnolia West High School were back in class on Thursday, October 1, after two days at home. The cause was a water well. It ran dry on Monday morning, and when it did, the school lost more than its drinking fountains.
The campus air conditioning depends on that well. Denise Meyers, the district's assistant superintendent of communications, told Community Impact that the HVAC systems at Magnolia West rely on district water wells to run. No water meant no cooling.
How the week went
The water stopped at about 9:30 a.m. on Monday, September 28, according to parents who spoke to ABC13. Students spent the rest of that school day without working bathrooms or air conditioning and were dismissed at the regular time.
Crews got the well working overnight. The district told ABC13 that all systems were functioning at 3 a.m. Tuesday and the campus was ready to open. By the start of the school day, KPRC reported, the well had run dry again. Tuesday was canceled.
So was Wednesday. A replacement part arrived and was being installed while water delivery trucks filled the campus tanks, according to the district's account to Community Impact. Repairs were declared complete Wednesday, and Magnolia ISD reopened the school Thursday.
What parents described
Tonya Berrueta told KPRC that when she went to pick up her son on Monday, the thermostat in the front office read 80 degrees. She said she had photos of students being taught outside, because the morning air was cooler than the building.
"They couldn't use the bathrooms, they couldn't wash their hands," another parent, Alisha Will, told the station.
Parents who spoke to ABC13 said the building smelled of sewage and that some students got sick. One said, "There was no water. Our kids deserve better." The station reported that the district had not responded to those accounts at the time it published.
What the district said
"Due to a mechanical issue with the water well, school had to be canceled today," the district said Tuesday. "Our administration wants to ensure the water well system is fully functioning before allowing students to return to campus."
When the school reopened, Meyers called unexpected infrastructure problems frustrating, "especially when they impact our students and staff." She said the district's "priority was ensuring the campus was fully functional and safe before bringing everyone back."
Still open
Two questions had no public answer by Friday. The district's statements did not say whether the two lost days will be made up. They also did not say what caused the well to fail twice, or whether the campus will get a backup supply so the next failure does not take the cooling with it.
Families can watch for both in the district's notifications, which Magnolia ISD asked parents to keep turned on during the outage. We will report the answers when the district gives them.
Editor's note: this ran as straight reporting. The closure, its dates and its cause are not in dispute. Parents' descriptions are attributed to the people who gave them and to the outlets they spoke to, and the district's statements are quoted as it issued them.
Sources: Community Impact, October 1, 2026, for the reopening, the repairs, the water trucks, the HVAC link and Denise Meyers' statement. ABC13, September 29, 2026, for the 9:30 a.m. outage, parents' accounts and the district's Tuesday statements. KPRC, September 29, 2026, for the well running dry a second time Tuesday morning and the accounts of Tonya Berrueta and Alisha Will. Corrections to editor@themagnoliastandard.news.