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Firefighter on site monitoring air quality<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a little nervous,\u201d said Marblehead mom Nesma Sleem as she dropped her child at the Coffin School Monday morning, after a carbon monoxide leak closed the school Friday and sent two men to the hospital.<\/p>\n
The CO leak was caused by a broken fan belt in one of the school\u2019s two boilers. Coffin\u2019s hardwired CO detector system failed. Facilities Director Todd Bloodgood discovered the leak when he found a custodian and maintenance worker feeling sick in the boiler room.<\/p>\n
The boiler was repaired on Friday and CO levels returned to normal by the end of the day. The two workers were treated and released at a Boston hospital.<\/p>\n
However, American Service Company, which repairs the CO detector system, could not come to the school until Monday. As a precaution, Fire Chief Jason Gilliland sent a firefighter with a multi-gas reader to the school, where he\u2019ll remain checking levels until the system is fully operational.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very high-tech,\u201d Gilliland said. \u201cWe have them on all our trucks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Interim Superintendent Bill McAlduff stood outside the Coffin School Monday morning, along with Principal Sean Satterfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m completely confident that the building is safe from carbon monoxide,\u201d McAlduff said. He met later in the morning with principals from all the schools in town.<\/p>\n
Glenn Cook, bringing his child to Coffin on Monday, wasn\u2019t worried at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the best option,\u201d he said. \u201cThe fire department is here with test equipment. They\u2019re the experts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dangerous Levels<\/p>\n
At a meeting with anxious parents Friday evening, McAlduff laid out the timeline of the day\u2019s events at Coffin, which serves 224 students.<\/p>\n
At about 7:15 a.m., a fan belt in one of the school\u2019s two boilers broke, causing dangerous levels of CO (300 parts per million) to fill the boiler room. Levels in the rest of the school were about 50 parts per million.<\/p>\n
Luckily, the leak happened before students had entered the building. Only one teacher and one student were in the school at the time.<\/p>\n
Outside, students and their parents arriving for the school day were sent home, but with little information. Unaccompanied students were loaded onto a bus to keep warm, and ultimately transferred to the Eveleth School. Their parents were contacted and told to pick up their children.<\/p>\n
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Communication Challenges<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m mildly horrified,\u201d mom Kristen Pratt said at the parent meeting.<\/p>\n
Many parents were angry about the timing of communication from the school department.<\/p>\n
McAlduff sent the first email about the leak around 10 a.m., well after the news had spread across social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou lost a lot of trust today,\u201d Pratt added. \u201cIt\u2019s sort of staggering.\u201d<\/p>\n
McAlduff admitted that mistakes in communication were made.<\/p>\n
\u201cI apologize to those who felt the communication was too slow,\u201d he said. \u201cOur priority is always the safety of our students and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parents complained that there aren\u2019t better protocols in place for communicating with families in emergencies.<\/p>\n
Dad Steve London asked why the school department didn\u2019t send out an emergency call to families (similar to ones sent on snow days).<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re absolutely right,\u201d admitted McAlduff. \u201cWe will make sure we do better.\u201d He promised parents that he\u2019d be working on the issue, empowering more school administrators and even teachers to send system-wide alerts during emergencies.<\/p>\n
He also said the school department would look into using social media platforms – like Facebook and Twitter – to keep parents up to date on events as they\u2019re happening. Parents also suggested the school department consider apps that send parents text messages about emergencies.<\/p>\n
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Detectors in the Schools<\/p>\n
CO detectors are not required by law in schools in Massachusetts. However, the Coffin, Glover, Village, and Veterans Schools all have hard-wired CO detectors, but not in their boiler rooms.<\/p>\n
At Marblehead High and the Eveleth School, there are detectors in boiler rooms, but not in the rest of those buildings.<\/p>\n
Gilliland said he\u2019d like to see all schools have hard-wired systems.<\/p>\n
Some parents asked if the schools could install back-up, battery-powered detectors.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are even joking about putting monitors in our kids\u2019 backpacks,\u201d Pratt said.<\/p>\n
Up Next<\/p>\n
The School Committee will meet Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m., at Marblehead High School, and Chairman Sarah Gold said she\u2019ll be adding the CO scare and communication challenges to the agenda.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we hope will come out of this is better preparedness across the district,\u201d Gold said.<\/p>\n
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