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Sewage backup closes Kids Unlimited Academy Monday Aug 28, 2017 at 5:30 PM Aug 28, 2017 at 7:07 PM Mark Freeman Mail Tribune @MTwriterFreeman About 350 Kids Unlimited Academy students got an early end to their first school day of the year when problems with a main city sewer line under Riverside Avenue caused sewage to back up in the school's bathrooms. Kids Unlimited Chief Executive Officer Tom Cole said students reported backed-up toilets about 1:30 p.m. Monday, and plumbers called in to fix the problem realized it came from the city's main line nearby, where construction work has been ongoing. By 2 p.m., Cole decided to call off school, sending notices for parents to come pick up their kids, Cole said. "It's a tough way to start the school year," Cole said. "Three-hundred-and-fifty kids without a functioning restroom posed a challenge." Most of the kids were picked up by parents, Cole said. Those who didn't get picked up will be heading home in buses on the regular schedule, he said. Calls to Medford public works officials were not immediately returned Monday afternoon. Kids Unlimited hired an environmental cleanup firm to clean and sanitize the bathrooms, and there was no immediate word Monday whether the academy will be open Tuesday.