A gas odor at Washington Middle School caused students and staff to evacuate the school Friday morning and spend their day at Oconto Falls High School.
Buses delivering students to the middle school at the start of the day were used to transport students and staff to Oconto Falls High School, while the fire department and gas company performed tests at the school.
Students returned to the middle school about 10:30 a.m. after school administrators received the all clear, but the odor was again detected soon afterward, and students and staff were again evacuated.
Principal Lou Hobyan said the odor was first detected earlier in the week at the school’s Washington Street entrance, and maintenance personnel thought the issue was fixed after an inoperable heater was removed and the line was capped. Staff members arriving at the school Friday morning smelled a gas odor in different parts of the school, which were eventually traced to leaks caused by slight breaks in the unions of a couple of gas pipes.
The district used its parent notification system to alert parents of the problem, and about 100 students were picked up by their parents before the end of the school day. The other students spent time in the Falls Area Performing Arts Center, gym and commons, watching a movie, doing activities or studying.
Hobyan said the school’s crisis plan worked well, and the high school provided great hospitality to the 385 students and 45 staff members.
Fire department and school personnel checked the school over the weekend and detected no odors.
“Monday it was business as usual. There was no hint of gas,” Hobyan said.
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