Students protest stinky school

November 01, 2006 09:52 am

— By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor
About 50 Knox Central High School students walked out of their classes Tuesday morning to protest a foul smell permeating the school.
Juniors Stephen Mollett and Steven Coleman said they began the protest about 9:30 a.m. around the flag pole to bring attention to a sewer odor, which they said had been nauseating students for several weeks.
Mollett said he and Coleman planned only to speak to school officials about the problem, but as more students joined them outside, it turned into a sit-down protest.
ÒThis was a spur of the moment thing,Ó Mollett said. ÒAs it went on, more people saw us.Ó
Mollett said someone pulled a fire alarm at the school Ñ which was not part of his silent protest.
ÒThis was supposed to remain peaceful,Ó he said.
Mollett said hundreds of students signed a petition asking that the odor be taken care of, or students be released from classes.
Principal Allen Storie said engineers were called about the problem last week, but they were unable to locate the source of the smell until Tuesday morning.
ÒWe moved some people to the library and cafeteria,Ó Storie said, but added that for most of the approximate 1,000 students, classes continued as normal.
Superintendent Walter Hulett said the stench was caused by a ventilation problem in the school, which opened this year. Pipes venting out air from the school bathrooms and kitchen were located near air units, which took in air to circulate throughout the school.
After working on the problem for several days, engineers and contractors capped off the vents to find the source. The test helped engineers find the problem, but made the smell even worse Tuesday morning by pushing the foul air into the building. Hulett said steps were taken to correct the ventilation and believed the problem to be solved Tuesday afternoon. He said at no time was the stench so powerful that the school needed to close the campus.
School officials did contact the health department, which came to investigate the problem.
ÒThe principal and superintendent are doing everything they can, and to my knowledge, there is nothing dangerous about it,Ó said Ray Canady with Knox County Health Department.
By the afternoon, much of the smell had cleared, and protesters were asked to quietly go back to class.
ÒEveryone has a right to protest,Ó Storie told the students. ÒYou guys got your point across, which is the adult thing to do.Ó
After speaking with the principal, Mollett and Coleman called for an end to the protest, but some students remained skeptical.
ÒJust because we made the point doesnÕt mean it stopped stinking,Ó said student Kasey Brown. ÒWe shouldnÕt have to go to school because they canÕt figure out whatÕs going on. WeÕre going to stay out here.Ó
Storie said a few students might face disciplinary action, but Ònot necessarily for walking out,Ó mentioning disrespectful behavior toward Hulett.

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