Out of School on Wednesday...

I copied and pasted the following from the Channel 2 Website about the goings on at our school yesterday. We were out today, and don't know too much more than what was reported on the news.

-Mike



Starpoint Central School closed Wednesday for health mystery:

December 14, 2004

A medical mystery sent many students to the hospital and emergency workers scrambling into action at Starpoint Central school. 31 students became sick leading to a medical lockdown and then early dismissal.

It is a mystery why students in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades suddenly fell ill. Officials do not suspect foul play at this point, but tests and an investigation are underway to determine the cause.

“We are not sure what caused this incident,” said Dr. Douglas Whelan, Starpoint Superintendent.

50 students were in the Starpoint auditorium practicing for a holiday choral concert when one student suddenly fell ill. That student went to the nurses office, and shortly afterwards, another student became sick. The nurse called 911. The number of sick kids quickly grew to 31. Most reported feeling dizzy or light-headed as they were taken to area hospitals.

“I’ve heard them vomiting blood. No one saw it,” said Dr. Whelan. “And I’ve also heard that the doctors at the hospital emergency rooms questioned that.”

Air inside the auditorium was circulated outside, and initial testing by haz-mat crews found no signs of carbon monoxide. The sheriffs department and the FBI are now handling the investigation.

“Our role, naturally, would be if somebody were to do something, which we have no evidence of, to follow up,” said Thomas Beilein of the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department.

“We have no reports of calls coming to the school, we know of no threats, we know of no students within the group who have had discipline problems in school,” said Dr. Whelan.

In other cases similar to this, other students have fallen ill in a sort of psychological response to seeing someone get sick. It’s not clear if that’s what happened here, but Dr. Whelan has no reason to believe any of the kids faked their illness.

“When I was there on the scene I saw students who said they were weak, dizzy, being helped into the nurses office, so I don’t have any reason to believe they were not telling the truth,” said Dr. Whelan.

An environmental testing company out of Grand Island is running tests at Starpoint. School is cancelled for Wednesday for all students, and Dr. Whelan assures parents that he will not re-open the school until everything is deemed to be safe.