One Monday morning last fall, some students and teachers at North Mac Middle School in Girard weren’t feeling well. The health teacher, Alan Love, who also happens to be a registered nurse, told superintendent Marica Cullen the school might have a gas leak.
“And I could just tell from the look on his face, he wasn’t speaking to me as a teacher, he was speaking to me as a nurse. So we called an evacuation of the building. And actually it was later on that it was determined that it was carbon monoxide,” Cullen said.
The leak was traced to a faulty water heater. About 150 students and staff were treated at area emergency rooms. The incident inspired legislation requiring all schools install alarms that can detect this odorless, colorless gas. It has passed the General Assembly. If it’s signed into law, it will take effect in January.
