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Niles students sent home after gas leak
BY Jordan Cohen
NILES
Students were evacuated from McKinley High School Friday morning and later sent home after gas leaks were detected in two piping joints, one of them affecting the cafeteria oven and stove.
“The students first smelled the gas leak in the band room,” said Scott Libert, McKinley principal. “It was pretty strong at that point.”
Libert said the students were told to get their clothing from the lockers and go to the football stadium adjacent to the high school.
“The kids were really good about this. and there was no panic,” Libert said.
Superintendent Mark Robinson ordered the nearly 700 students sent home an hour later after the fire department and a gas-company inspector confirmed the leaks.
Robinson said one of the leaks, in a piping unit above the oven, was determined to be minor; however detection meters indicated more gas escaping from the other piping unit located in a tunnel below the high school. Robinson said both units were shut down immediately and he decided to send the students home even though the fire department and gas company advised him there was no further threat to safety.
Robinson said a number of worried parents were calling after hearing about the evacuation.
“They were concerned about the safety of their children and I didn’t want any hysteria because of this,” Robinson said.
The superintendent said repairs to the joints would be completed Friday and there would be no further disruption of the high school schedule.
“Unless we run into an unknown situation, we will have school Monday,” Robinson said.