Seaholm Officials' Response to Noxious Odor Appreciated by Some Parents

Some parents said they were satisfied with the way school officials handled communication with parents after a ended the school day early and sent six people to the hospital complaining of nausea and dizziness.

"I thought they handled it really well," said Kim Stoner, a parent of a Seaholm junior. "They sent all those emails, they had the fire department there. They communicated well."

School officials alerted parents around 1 p.m. Thursday that nearby construction work on Lincoln and Cranbook had caused a powerful odor to enter the high school's west wing, forcing students and teachers out of their classrooms.

The smell came from a resin that was being used to line a sewer outside the school, construction work completed by the sewer rehabilitation firm Liquiforce as part of a project for the Oakland County Water Resources Commission. According to county officials, Thursday was the last day of the project.

According to Seaholm AP environmental science teacher Renee Moore, workers began laying the resin last Friday, with work continuing Wednesday and into Thursday. At first, the smell was annoying, she said — a smell that was likened during the day to solvent, airplane glue and spray paint, according to Seaholm athletic director Aaron Frank, who spoke from the Seaholm football game Thursday night.

However, by Thursday morning, Moore said, the odor was unbearable and began to pervade the west end of the high school.

Air quality control tests completed by the Birmingham Fire Department determined that though the smell was strong — causing those sensitive to it to feel sick, Fire Chief Mike Metz said — chemicals weren't present at dangerous or toxic levels.

Amanda Mazzoli, a sophomore, said the smell was more annoying than anything else. Mazzoli said she had her first few classes in the west wing on Thursday and started getting a headache because of the smell.

"I was sitting in science class and I was like, why does my head hurt?" she said. "I hope they get it fixed because it's annoying."

Likewise, sophomore Suzanne Buxton said she heard students were fainting, but she didn't smell anything during the day, as all her classes were on the other side of the building.

Seaholm officials sent home three emails Thursday afternoon, alerting parents that the fire department was on the scene, that classes had been dismissed at 1:30 p.m. and that air quality tests came back clean.

Julia Kuslits, another parent of a Seaholm junior, said she appreciated the emails sent home to parents, especially since she was at work all afternoon and wasn't able to speak with her daughter until she got home.

"I was able to read the emails, and I like how they kept all the parents up to date," she said.

Sue Stellenkamp, a parent of a Seaholm junior, agreed.

"I think they handled it all well," she said. "I wasn't worried."

Dorothy Forlock, another parent of a 10th-grader, said her daughter texted her when it was announced that school was being dismissed. She said she believes the school handled the situation well, but is concerned that construction continues outside the high school.

"What I don't like is that they're not done with construction," she said. "Why couldn't they finish this before school started?" .