1,200 students kept at school overnight after mercury found
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Hundreds of anxious parents staked out a Las Vegas middle school after the discovery of a small amount of mercury led federal officials to keep more than a thousand students for up to 17 hours to screen them for exposure to the neurotoxin.
Authorities were investigating if a student brought the substance to Walter Johnson Junior High School on Wednesday, forcing 1,300 students, teachers and first responders to undergo testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to Clark County School District police Capt. Ken Young.
It’s too early to say what sort of charges or discipline could be imposed, he said. No mercury-related illnesses have been reported.
Some parents criticized the lack of information they received and the intensity of the response, but officials said it was important to be sure no one went home contaminated.
High levels of exposure can cause mercury poisoning, which has symptoms including muscle weakness and speech, hearing and walking impairment, the EPA’s website says.
The last people were released at 5 a.m. Thursday, and school was canceled through Friday. When the mercury was discovered at noon Wednesday, automated messages alerted parents.
They waited outside for word on their children, who slowly trickled out through the evening and into the next morning.
Lori Barga told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that she was worried about her 11-year-old daughter.
“They have been in there since 8 o’clock this morning. Class was supposed to finish at 3:20 p.m. and now it’s past midnight,” Barga said early Thursday. “I’m worried that they will be tired and hungry and stressed.”
Students were quarantined in their classrooms until they were screened but were allowed to use the restroom. They received water, juice and food. First responders also coordinated with parents to deliver medicine to children as needed.
“They were laughing. They were talking. They were really, really upbeat,” fire department spokesman Tim Szymanski said of students’ morale. “The kids didn’t complain or seem out of it. I was there really, really late and I was really amazed at their attitude.”