A Gillett Secondary School teacher was back to work the day after receiving medical care for drinking from a soda bottle tainted with cleaning spray.
According to a statement released by the Gillett Police Department, the male teacher drank the soda with his lunch on Oct. 20. When he took another drink of the soda about an hour later, he suspected it had been laced with some chemical because of the soda’s unusual odor.
According to the police statement, the 911 caller reporting the incident said a staff member had possibly been poisoned.
School officials and law enforcement determined later that day that a male student, 16, and female student, 17, placed a small amount of a cleaning solution used to clean whiteboards in the bottle.
Gillett District Administrator Todd Carlson said the students put two squirts of the spray in the teacher’s bottle as a prank.
“What they thought was a practical joke was very poor judgment, not a good decision whatsoever,” Carlson said.
Carlson said administrators requested the teacher be evaluated by medical personnel as a precautionary measure, and he was transported by ambulance to a medical facility.
“He’s doing find. He was back at work the next day,” Carlson said.
Carlson said the students were very remorseful, although he said their remorse didn’t set aside the danger of what they did or the harm they caused the teacher. Both students were disciplined by the school district.
“We’re taking this very, very seriously, and it’s being dealt with very seriously,” Carlson said.
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