Officials in Elgin say about 2,900 students were evacuated after higher-than-normal levels of Legionella bacteria were found in cooling towers at three schools.
School District U-46 spokeswoman Mary Fergus says the Wednesday morning evacuations affected Eastview Middle School, Larkin High School, Gifford High School and district offices located at Gifford. The levels were found during annual air quality testing of the schools' cooling towers. She says no students were ill.
Students were dismissed home or taken to Bartlett High school or Elgin High School to be picked up by parents.
Fergus said the district is working with local health officials. She said district CEO Tony Sanders decided to evacuate "immediately'' when he learned about the bacteria levels.
The bacteria were found as western Illinois deals with a Legionnaire's disease outbreak that has killed 13.
