Unclear whether EMS will reopen on Wednesday
ELKINS — The superintendent of Randolph County Schools said he is “anticipating” Elkins Middle School reopening for classes on Wednesday, but a decision will not be made until results from a “final round” of testing are reported.
“We are awaiting some final assessments, but up to this point there has been no evidence to find any relationship to the carbon monoxide concern that has been raised,” Dr. Shawn Dilly told The Inter-Mountain Monday afternoon.
“So we are waiting for some assessments and I know the task force (Environmental Protection Agency Emergency Response Team) plans to put out a statement (today) related to that.”
Elkins Middle School, and all county schools, will be closed today for the General Election.
Asked whether EMS would reopen to students Wednesday, Dilly replied, “Right now we are anticipating that to be the potential outcome. We’ve had every group and agency we could think of involved so far, but the tests keep coming back the same way.
“We are anticipating reopening on Wednesday, we are just waiting on the final round of potential testing results. That should be completed and shared with us Tuesday morning.”
On Friday, the Randolph County Office of Emergency Management announced that a “multi-agency investigation” into the reported illnesses of students at Elkins Middle School is underway, and the school would remain “closed until further notice.”
“Randolph County Emergency Management is leading a multi-agency investigation into patients with elevated carbon monoxide levels at a local hospital in the Elkins area,” the Randolph County OEM release stated.
“Preliminary results from air quality testing at Elkins Middle School have shown no elevated levels of carbon monoxide (CO). Additional environmental and health analyses and monitoring are ongoing.”Randolph County Emergency Management is receiving active assistance from the West Virginia Department of Health (WV DH), West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP), West Virginia Center for Threat Preparedness, local health departments and surrounding hospitals.
“These agencies are coordinating resources through an incident command structure led by Randolph County Emergency Management to ensure a comprehensive response.
“The EPA Emergency Response Team arrived on Thursday and has deployed lab-grade equipment to assess potential exposure sources. The West Virginia Bureau for Public Health (WV BPH) and the Center for Threat Preparedness are evaluating factors contributing to the reported symptoms. The WV BPH is conducting syndromic surveillance — or the collection of health-related data — in collaboration with local health departments and hospitals.
“Residents are advised to report any unusual symptoms to their healthcare providers. As a precaution, Elkins Middle School is closed until further notice.”
Last week, Randolph County made the decision to break the tradition of using Elkins Middle School as a polling place in the General Election, due to ongoing air quality concerns at the school.
Precincts 27 and 28, which normally vote at EMS, will instead cast ballots at the Phil Gainer Community Center today.
Dilly released documentation on Oct. 30 showing that six separate inspections of the school have taken place since Thursday, Oct. 24, the day that some students first began suffering symptoms and were treated at Davis Medical Center.
The school was closed down on Friday, Oct. 25 in response to the situation. The first inspections took place that day, and found nothing that would cause illness, Dilly said.
Elkins Middle School reopened for classes Monday, Oct. 28, but once again students reported becoming sick and being treated at the hospital.
Dilly then said the school would shift to remote learning for the rest of this week, while further testing was conducted. Elkins Fire Chief Steve Himes told The Inter-Mountain on Oct. 28 that his department had been at the school five different times at that point and had found nothing that would explain the illnesses.
The West Virginia Army National Guard’s 35th Civil Support Team came to inspect the school on Oct. 29. The team’s commander, Ryan Schwartz, wrote that they found “no elevated readings” or anything else that would indicate why students would become ill.