FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – The Florence School District One School Board met for the first time since West Florence High School was tested for carbon monoxide.
Interim Superintendent, Dr. Dan Strickland, addressed the board and the community with the timeline of when officials were notified of the carbon monoxide exposure to when the school was tested.
“The Florence School District One was notified by a teacher of carbon monoxide exposure on Wednesday, January thirty-first,” he said. “The teacher worked in a science lab.”
Dr. Strickland said on the same day the school was notified, a local gas company tested all of the labs in the school for carbon monoxide. He said the gas turned off when the company tested, and no carbon monoxide was detected.
“The following Friday, February second, ABS Environmental was called to assess the building and monitor for carbon monoxide in the labs, as well as in other areas of the building, that may have been exposed to carbon monoxide,” the Interim Superintendent said. “The testing agency was on-site that morning and assessed the monitors, but it appeared that no carbon monoxide was detected in any of the survey areas.”
West Florence High School junior, Reagan Dunnam, is the Vice Chairman of the student facilities committee. She spoke during the public participation segment of the board meeting Thursday night.
“The issue surrounding the carbon monoxide leaks worry me tremendously,” she said to the board. “My fellow classmates and I are scared for our safety in this building.”
Dunnam told News13 her biggest concern is the well-being of West Florence High School students.
“Nobody should be worried about being poisoned or any health issues while getting an education,” she said.
She said being on the facilities committee, where she takes a closer look at what’s going on in the three high school has made her more dedicated to the quality of the schools in the district.
“It’s worrisome because the school has become kind of a dangerous place, allegedly, we don’t know, we don’t have all the information and that’s scary too,” said Dunnam.
The City of Florence Fire Marshal said South Carolina state law does not require carbon monoxide detectors in schools.
“The fact that carbon monoxide detectors weren’t even required to be in place in the first place is kind of weird, especially in a lab with gas,” Dunnam said.
Lee Capell works for ABS Environmental, the company that ran the carbon monoxide test at West Florence High School.
Capell was at Thursday night’s board meeting and said his report showed normal levels of carbon monoxide in the 10 classrooms that were tested.
Capell’s report said the highest concentration of carbon monoxide detected in the school on Feb. 2 and Feb. 5 did not exceed four parts per million (ppm). He said, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the established Permissible Exposure Limits (PEL) for carbon monoxide are:
- 35 ppm Time Weighted Average (TWA)
- 200 PPM Ceiling (5-min sample)
- 1,500 ppm Instantaneous
McLeod Regional Medical Center prepared a statement that reads as follows:
“Clinical laboratory tested at McLeod Regional Medical Center does not test specifically for carbon monoxide, but for carboxyhemoglobin. Carboxyhemoglobin is a physiological by-product of carbon monoxide exposure and is typically what is measured. Carbon monoxide occurs by two means, endogenous production by our bodies at low levels and environmental exposure. Disease states that cause a break down in red blood cells can result in mildly elevated carboxyhemoglobin levels. Additionally, environmental exposure such as car exhaust, furnaces, kerosene heaters and smoking (primary or secondary) can result in elevated levels. At McLeod, our reference level for carboxyhemoglobin is <1.5%. It is set at a low level to allow for any detectable increase in carboxyhemoglobin either from disease states or environmental exposure. This allows our clinicians to assess the significance of a particular measurement based on the clinical situation. It would be incorrect to assume that mildly increased values above 1.5% represent acute environmental carbon monoxide poisoning. As with any laboratory result, the interpretation of the findings must be done in the context of the clinical situation. Regarding out testing platform, we perform daily quality control measures to assure that the test is analytically accurate.”
Parents of West Florence High School students questioned whether or not the gas getting shut off affected the results of the carbon monoxide test. They said they want the district to run another test with the gas turned on to see if the results are the same.
Dr. Strickland said the gas in the labs is turned off. He said the district will install carbon monoxide detectors in classrooms exposed to gas-fired equipment in the high school.
“As a former teacher myself, a former administrator, superintendent at two other districts, and I’m sure I can attest for the board too, in the same situation,” said Dr. Strickland. “That we consider the safety of students and staff of most importance, and we have gone through every step that we know of, and you have the information, that we think it’s safe.”
The Florence School District One School Board will meet again on Feb. 22