Portage Path Elementary School (West Akron, Ohio)

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Odor shortens students' day

Portage Path Elementary pupils wait outdoors while unusual smell is

investigated. No one injured

Journal staff report

May 21, 1998

Students at Portage Path Elementary School in West Akron were evacuated from

the school shortly before 2 p.m. yesterday after school personnel smelled a

strange odor.

The odor was checked out by the Akron Fire Department, East Ohio Gas Co. and

Akron Public Schools officials, who determined that the smell was not toxic

chemicals or natural gas, district spokeswoman Ingraham said.

Some parents were concerned that the smell signaled a gas leak at the school

at 55 S. Portage Path. The source of the odor had not been determined

yesterday evening, and the school was to be aired out overnight.

There were no injuries. The 400 students were escorted out of the building

and remained in the playground until the regular dismissal time of 2:30 p.m.

Parent a Conkle complained that school officials should have telephoned

parents or guardians so they could have picked up their children. ``If it

was gas, volatile as it is,'' the district should have bused the students to

another location, she said.

Ingraham said that although one Portage Path staff member remarked that the

odor smelled somewhat like natural gas, school officials did not suspect

there was a gas leak when they evacuated the building. She said the smell

could be the result of paint fumes mixing with the heat since some areas of

the building were recently painted. Additionally, she said, a ventilation

system sometimes draws exhaust fumes into the building.