Board of Education Chairman Ted Raczka said that the reaction by Keigwin principal Tracey Koff to the gas leak at the school was inappropriate.
"Protocol was not followed and it should have been," Raczka said Tuesday. "That is wrong."
He declined to comment on the specifics of the case, which he says will be discussed at the next Board of Education meeting, because, "there are potential discipline issues floating around."
"It was a mistake, clearly," he added. "And you're never going to get rid of every mistake. But it has been dealt with very seriously. A lot of work was done to insure that this will never happen again."
Raczka characterized the incident as a "leaking bunsen burner," but acknowledged that any gas in a school is a matter that must be taken very seriously.
Let us please, please, please not repeat history.
ReplyDeleteWhat has been called the worst school disaster in American history was due to a gas leak.
It was a terrible gas explosion in a school in 1937 that got the country's attention to the dangers of gas leaks, and caused legislation to add mercaptan (nasty sulfur smell) to piped gas to it would have a detectable odor.
The school was literally blown up. Hundreds of small bodies, many unidentifiable. Enormous grief to a small town, losing half of their children all at once.
THAT is why we take EVERY sulfur smell and gas leak seriously. Especially in a school!
(Yes, Not Marie has a science background.)
Seriously, let's keep our heads here.
ReplyDeleteThey knew the source of the leak, the area of exposure, and the extent of the danger. The mercapatin worked!
If one classroom has gas in it - open the windows and move the children a safe distance away. The other side of the building sounds like a good start.
I'm not sure why there's a fetish for evacuating small children outside into freezing weather, especially if there's an explosion risk. If the classroom full of gas blows, there will be flying glass and debris outside!
Instead, move the children to an area surrounded by cinder block walls, like, say, a large room on the other end of the building, far removed from the gas leak.
Just because the principal didn't succumb to panic and overreaction, doesn't mean he didn't take it seriously.