Cedar Heights Middle School in Covington was evacuated this afternoon after there were reports of a potential gas or sewage leak, according to the Kent School District.

Ultimately no gas or sewage leak was found.

According to Kent School District spokesman Chris Loftis, the school was evacuated at around 12:55 p.m. after 17 students and two teachers and one support staff said they felt lightheaded due to an “irritating smell.”

The building was immediately evacuated while it was inspected.

Students and faculty were allowed back into the gym at around 2:30 p.m. after no gas leak was found.

“It’s been checked very well,” he said. “It may have been some nearby construction. We just don’t know. We’ll find out what the problem was.”

The students were released at 3:05 p.m. All those who reported feeling lightheaded were examined, but no injuries were reported.

Loftis stated that the school buses are running on schedule, but they’re still dealing with certain problems.

“The situation we’re dealing with now is that the kids were not allowed back into the classroom, so there’s a lot of personal belongings still there,” he said.

Currently, Loftis said that local firefighters hazardous materials specialist are still working on giving the building a final clearance to reenter.

“Latest is we are conferencing right now to decide how best to allow kids back in the rooms and when so they can gather belongings,” he wrote in an email interview.

” (We’re) still trying to find source of irritating smell,” Loftis wrote. “Don’t know yet if it is school or community based.”

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Update:

This is a letter from Principal Heidi Maurer that was emailed to the families of students.

Dear Cedar Heights Parents and Guardians,

Today we evacuated the school after reports of a propane-like smell on our second floor.  I was very impressed with our students’ quick and orderly evacuation. We were able to quickly account for all students and staff.  Local fire and police were on scene quickly and did very thorough sweeps of the building and found no gas leak.  In addition, medical teams checked in with students to make sure everyone was safe and healthy.

We apologize that students were not able to retrieve items from the classroom; however, we could not release students into the general part of the building until it was released by emergency services.  We will take extra efforts to secure items left in classrooms over the weekend and have additional security staff at the building.  After the district’s environmental and safety officers conferred with county hazardous materials teams, it was determined students could enter only the gym.  Students were then dismissed from the gym to their busses, parents, or to walk home.

We appreciate our positive parent cooperation.  Parents coming to the building followed our safety officers’ instructions to maintain a clear campus enabling emergency services to respond quickly.

Please know that the safety of your child is our number one priority and we will do everything possible to find the root cause of this situation and take all appropriate actions.

Thank you,

Heidi Maurer

Principal

This is a phone message that was sent to families.

Today we evacuated the school after reports of a propane-like smell on the second floor. All students and staff were evacuated for their safety and are safe.

While students were allowed to return to the gym, they were not able to retrieve personal items from the classroom. We could not allow students into the rest of the building until it was released by emergency services.  We will take extra efforts to secure items left in classrooms over the weekend and have additional security staff at the building.

Please know that the safety of your child is our number one priority.

Thank you.