Fort Rucker officials have temporarily closed the elementary school on the Alabama post for extensive environmental testing after 24 fifth-graders became ill.
The students became sick Sept. 16 on the playground as they were participating in a team-building exercise followed by recess, said Cindy Gibson, spokeswoman for the Department of Defense Education Activity Americas area. Officials took 11 children to two local hospitals, where they were treated and released; the other 13 sick students were picked up by their parents at the school.
Officials initially thought the children exhibited symptoms of heat exhaustion, Gibson said.
Those taken ill were from three classes of fifth-graders, she said.
The 379 elementary school students and their teachers and staff have been moved temporarily to other locations while the testing is being conducted. Second-grade students started classes Wednesday at Fort Rucker Primary School; third- through sixth-grade students are in the Fort Rucker Spiritual Center.
"We're continuing to work closely with Fort Rucker officials and subject matter experts to identify a cause for the symptoms," Gibson said. Officials are cleaning surfaces inside the building and conducted a forced-air ventilation procedure.
"Our foremost priority is safety and it was also important to return students to their routine," she said. The school was closed Monday for the testing, and Tuesday was a scheduled teacher work day, so students missed only one day of lessons before classes resumed, she said.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
