Parents worry school making students sick

EDMOND, Okla. — Some parents at an Edmond elementary school spent much of Wednesday worried sick.

Their little ones have been complaining of an odd illness and some believe the culprit is a problem inside the classroom.

Two weeks ago a teacher at West Field Elementary School noticed a strange smell in her classroom.

The maintenance crew found a gas leak and immediately fixed it, according to employees at the Edmond School District.

But parents say their kids are still complaining they don’t feel well at school.

Both Erin Collier and Jeni Lohr decided to check out their children for the day and take them home Wednesday after the children told their parents about their symptoms.

Third grader Grant Lohr said, “It’s just my stomach hurts and I have really bad headaches. It feels achy. It gets me nauseous.”

Erin Collier s of her third grade daughter, “My child has been sick more this year and had more health problems than any other year.”

Susan Parks-Schlepp is the spokesperson for Edmond Public Schools.

She said the gas leak two weeks ago was fixed and there shouldn’t be any reason the classroom is causing an illness.

She said a stomach virus has been going around at West Field and other nearby schools.

Though many parents say something is wrong, it seems natural gas is not the culprit.

Parks-Schlepp said, “We are very sorry that parents are upset about this but I can assure you there is no gas leak at West Field Elementary School. It is absolutely safe. We wanted an extra measure of security and precaution for parents to let them know everything was fine so we called out ONG. They did a sweep of the building with district personnel. They found nothing. They did a pressure test on the line. There is no gas leak at West Field Elementary School.”

ONG spokesperson Cherokee Ballard confirmed their crews did not detect any natural gas leaks in the school.