Students and teachers were evacuated from MS 80 Monday following an oil spill in the basement.
Teachers who arrived early in the morning said there was a bad smell throughout the school and that a fellow teacher vomited.
Dozens of firefighters and emergency workers arrived at the school at about 11:30 a.m. after some kids complained of shortness of breath and headaches. The cause was a 20-gallon oil spill, according to officials.
According to the Department of Education (DOE), EMS transported 12 people to Montefiore Hos-pital and 18 to North Central Bronx Hospital. All were later released.
Most of the students from the school were led to sidewalks on Rochambeau Avenue and Van Cortlandt Avenue East.
The DOE said the students were eventually transported to nearby schools PS/MS20, PS 56 and PS 8. Students re-entered the school at 2:39 p.m., according to the DOE.
MS 80 teacher and United Federation of Teachers representative Marsha Silberman complained that school officials waited too long to evacuate the school and that school should have been cancelled for the day.
“Nobody can make a decision in this army,” she said outside the school.
A DOE spokesperson denied the charge that officials didn’t act fast enough, but did not respond before press time with further details on proper procedures in such an incident.
admin
Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.