SHAWNEE, Oklahoma -
Something is
making workers at a Shawnee school sick. Right now what it is, is a
mystery.
On Thursday air
quality experts checked to see if mold may be to blame. The issue is in
the kitchen of the early childhood center. Administrators started
investigating after all the employees who work there started getting sick.
It was early this
month that school administrators say they started realizing something in the
kitchen wasn't right.
"I think it raises
alarms when you have more than one experiencing problems," said Shawnee
Superintendent Dr. Marc Moore.
On Jan. 11, the Director of Nutrition services sat down will all the employees and they all
complained of the same things.
"They're symptoms
like dizziness and lightheadedness and headache," said Deborah Taylor, Director
of Nutrition Services for the district. "Headache is one of things and
it's a little different headache than they're used to. Then kind of a fogginess
and then they're tired when they get home from work more than normal."
ONG was called out
immediately and the building was evacuated to investigate a gas leak. A Carbon
monoxide detector was then installed. The vent hoods checked out fine, but the symptoms
continued.
"If it is something
here, we're doing everything we can to find it," said Taylor.
Thursday,
environmental inspectors spent six hours on the sight investigating if mold
could be the problem. Back in 2008, when
the building was built, there were condensation issues.
"We are testing
for several items. At this point I can't speculate what it might be," said
Moore.
Moore says at this point, the issue seems to be confined to the kitchen and
students aren't in danger.
"We're assessing it
on a daily basis, but at this point, we don't believe there's a safety issue for
the children."
The preliminary air quality report is expected on Monday.
The issue is in the kitchen of the early childhood center. Administrators started investigating after all the employees who work there started getting sick.
