Westland H.S. Closed Wednesday As Odor Investigation Continues

Westland High School officials canceled classes for Wednesday because of a continued investigation into an odor that hospitalized more than a dozen people.

Westland was dismissed early for a second straight day on Tuesday after a report of a strong odor was detected inside the building.  Tuesday's incident came one day after 13 people were hospitalized after being overcome by fumes at the school, located at 146 Galloway Rd.  The school dismissed early on Monday because of the incident.

Administrators had said that the high school was safe and classes resumed on Tuesday.

Sandra Nekoloff, a spokeswoman for the South-Western City Schools, said that the district brought in two outside agencies, Law Hahn and Associates and Heapy Mechanical, to conduct additional air quality testing.  Nekoloff said that the district's plan was to systematically evaluate building systems to rule out any building issues.

The State Fire Marshal's Office said that they would be on scene Wednesday morning for the investigation.

Nekoloff said that school would not be reopened until it had completed air and system testing and ruled out building issues. 

Mother Kimberly Bouaroy said that she was angry that the school allowed students to attend on Tuesday.

“I’m very angry that they said it was OK for our children to go to school,” Bouaroy said. “It was not OK. They should have made sure. They should have canceled school today to find out if it would happen again.”

Stay with 10TV News and 10TV.com for continuing coverage.