Cheshire, CT – Several Highland Elementary School students became ill after a malfunctioning boiler unit was found to be releasing high amounts of carbon monoxide.
School was dismissed just before 11 a.m. Wednesday but was deemed safe for occupancy Wednesday afternoon. School will be held Thursday.
Every member of our team is confident that the situation has been fully remedied, Superintendent Jeff Solan said in a statement.
Solan said the unit has been deactivated for repairs. Burners and boilers are inspected and serviced each year.
We confirmed this with testing this afternoon and are certain that this is the source of the problem, Solan said. This particular boiler was last serviced in November 2015 as scheduled. Our team is also exploring solutions to ensure that this problem never repeats itself.
Rooftop air handling units drew carbon monoxide into the building, Solan said. Rooms where students expressed symptoms will also be disinfected.
In a statement issued earlier Wednesday, Solan said students had elevated levels of carbon monoxide and became ill following a field trip. In an update, Solan said neither the location of the trip nor the bus which transported students had anything to do with this outbreak.
We have sent students to The Institute for American Indian Studies on school trips many times and fully intend to continue to do so, Solan said.
A field trip to The Institute for American Indian Studies scheduled for Thursday will also go on as planned.
The Cheshire fire department, Chesprocott Health District, certified safety professionals from GeoInsight and the maintenance staff worked together to identify the malfunctioning boiler, Solan said. Carbon monoxide was not detected in the school during an evaluation Wednesday morning.
We enacted an emergency early dismissal in an abundance of caution and to allow our team to take all necessary measures including running tests which were not possible with the building occupied, Solan said.
Parent conferences were also postponed.
Some students also reported diarrhea Wednesday, which was not associated with carbon monoxide exposure, Solan said.