Tulsa, OK – Sand Springs Public Schools has called off classes again at Clyde Boyd Middle School and the 6th-grade center after a carbon monoxide leak made dozens of kids sick Monday. At least two had to spend the night in hospitals.
There was much more to this than we first reported Monday when all of the students went home shortly after the school was evacuated. A lot of parents took their children in for treatment and a couple were admitted to treat carbon monoxide poisoning.
They had kids everywhere and they were getting them in so quickly, so they got her in and did a blood draw to see what her levels were and after they did that, they got her on some oxygen, said parent Jenny Deramo.
More than 50 children were treated for symptoms like nausea and dizziness. St. Francis treated 45 patients and St. John’s clinics treated 10. Some went elsewhere or talked separately to poison control.
“They asked if he was vomiting or dizzy and I said no, so they said that we would be fine,” said parent Kim Manual.
The school district said between 11:15 and 12:58, five students went home sick Monday. Between 1:15 to 1:35, seven more students got sick and that’s when staff started searching for a common cause.
The investigation found a single heater malfunctioning, and a separate natural gas leak. That’s prompted a full inspection of piping and plans to install a new heater.
The district said carbon monoxide detectors would be installed Tuesday at Clyde Boyd and soon at the other schools.
“I would like to see detectors installed, like most parents would I’m sure. That would have alerted them quicker than trying to piece together things. But once they knew, it was handled appropriately,” said parent Wynter Ribordy.
Many parents are relieved, especially after discovering just how many children were sick.
“I don’t think any of us got the severity of what was going on, that wasn’t probably communicated very clearly and that would have had an impact on parents making decisions to take their kids in earlier, said Deramo. A lot of parents waited until late in the evening because they didn’t realize how serious it was.”
Tuesday, students were allowed back in to get belongings. Clyde Boyd and the 6th-grade center will be closed again Wednesday.