More than two dozen young students at Stony Mountain School were checked out for exposure to tear gas which wafted their way from a training exercise at the nearby prison.
“I started coughing and stuff,” said Aaron Zdrill, an eight-year-old student.
Stony Mountain prison is located about half a kilometre from the school.
“We always bring (kids) to the back to play until the bell goes and then realized our eyes were bothering us…and seeing a lot of kids coughing,” said Tracey MacKenzie, a parent.
The kids were rushed back inside the school and the administration contacted emergency personnel and parents.
“Approximately 20 students that were checked out right at the beginning with emergency measures people. About 20 went home,” said Ross Metcalfe superintendent with the Interlake School Division.
A penitentiary official told CTV News the tear gas tests are done twice a year at a training facility at Stony Mountain prison and suggested Wednesday’s incident is an isolated one. He said nothing was done out of the ordinary and that the gas usually disappears so quickly that corrections personnel didn’t need protective gear.
Some parents, however, said they want notifications given in advance.
“It would have been great to give the school a head’s up on that, given that they know there’s a school close by and lots of kids playing out there and running in the morning,” said parent Audra Latschislaw. She picked her son up from the school, but he appeared OK.
Ross Metcalfe agrees about the need for notifications and said the school board is now working with penitentiary officials to make sure another incident does not take place in the future.
Personnel at the prison said they are very apologetic and are looking into what caused the gas to spread.
