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Mashpee elementary school to remain closed Thursday after gas leak

Update - Dec. 13, 3:54 a.m.

The Quashnet School in Mashpee will remain closed Thursday, Dec. 13, while the school monitors the repairs made to heating equipment for another day, the school district said in a Facebook post. However, it will be a regular school day for students at the Coombs School and the Mashpee Middle-High School.

Good Evening Families and Staff, There is no school tomorrow (Thursday, 12/13) at the Quashnet School. While we have...

Posted by Mashpee Public Schools on Wednesday, December 12, 2018

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Original story:

School is expected to be open on Thursday at Quashnet Elementary School, provided there is no smell of gas.

On Tuesday morning, three school workers had to be treated for carbon monoxide poisoning and one had to be hospitalized after being exposed to a gas leak.

The leak forced children, staff members and teachers to evacuate just before 10 a.m. after students began complaining about a strange odor.

Investigators say a furnace in the school's mechanical room was leaking odorless CO, but also creating a smell of natural gas when it began malfunctioning.

"We pretty much narrowed it down back to the boiler room our original thought," said Mashpee Fire Department Chief Thomas Rullo. "The levels were not completely dangerous, but they’re enough to err on the side of caution."

For the second day in a row, on Wednesday morning school was closed down after a gas odor was spotted just after 8 a.m.

"You never know, CO is creepy, it can creep up on you," said Allison Gonsalves, a parent.

As the school was shut down for another day, however, unsuspecting parents kept sending their kids to school in the morning, having no idea the school was closed.

"I do wear the parent hat, so I understood where some parents were coming from that were quiet upset with our handling of the situation, student safety is first," said Mashpee School Distrcit Superintendent Patricia Deboer.

Deboer says it's important to note that parents need to teach their children their cell phone numbers as many kids were unable to reach their parents on Tuesday when the first evacuation happened.

School for Quashnet Elementary School students will be back in session on Thursday and students will be making up the days missed.

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