It was supposed to be school as usual at Topsail High Thursday. It was anything but, and the cause of the trouble is still unknown.
All Topsail High School parent Holly Howell wanted to do was pick her son up early to go on a hunting trip. "When I came back to pick him, I was told I couldn't have him," she said.
More than 1,000 students were evacuated Thursday morning after they noticed a strange odor coming from a Spanish classroom. EMS, police and Hazmat crews quickly came to the school to try and identify the problem.
All entrances to Topsail High School were closed. No one was allowed in the building except for Hazmat crews, and parents were not allowed to pick up their kids.
"They said I have no right to pick him up. He belongs to the school right now,” added Howell. “He does not belong to me right now, he belongs to the school. And so he has been out there since this morning with no food or any drink since from what I understand."
The high school students were asked to sit on the football field bleachers and wait for word from Hazmat. Four hours later, the students were still outside.
Students next door at the middle school were affected too. They usually come to the high school to hop on the bus home.
After hours of testing air quality and checking pipes in the school, there was still no concrete word on the source of the smell. The building was deemed safe, and students were allowed back in the building to pack up their things.
Topsail High School has been open for less than a year. WWAY has been told the problem was not a gas leak.
This event has caused school officials to reconsider their emergency plan.
School resumes this morning as usual.


I was there!
I am a student that just graduated from Topsail... and the day of the gas leak was eventful... My mom was coming to the school right as we were be evacuated and she walked up with me to the football field where we were all being held and when she tried to leave about an hour later they wouldn't let her leave either even though she never actually went into the building eventually they let her leave but the teachers and students still had to sit the for about 3 more hours. But the only thing that really bothered any of us was the heat and the fact we had no water or drink. They said that if we were contaminated and ate or drank it could make us sick or something so there is no reason to sue the school for not letting the kids out...
2 Questions
1. What heat? This took place in November. which leads to my second question
2. Why wait nearly 8 months to post on an item which is no longer relevant? Many animals go through the entire gestation period in less time then it took you to post.
True
Weather Underground lists the tempature for November 5th, 2009 in Topsail to be a high of 69F. For some of our slug studens that never leave the front of a tv that might be a little hot.
STANDARD
We were thinking of placing
Self-Absorbed Fool
ABCs of the Constitution
Self-absorbed? Surely you jest.
As a mother and school system employee, I'm particularly disturbed by the thought that anyone believes my child can legally be kept from me. As long as I have not abused or neglected my child, you and the rest of the free world have no right whatsoever to prevent my child from being in my possession. In fact, the argument could be made for kidnapping, in that my child was held against his will by a seperate, non-legal entity.
Click on the link below to read the NC State statue (§ 66A‑15.1.) regarding anyone who ignores a state of emergency warning. The school had zero right to keep that woman from picking up her child, but it would have been her fault/ responsibility had she left with him, and he been sick.
Link: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/c...
On the other hand, here's a link that may inform you of rights guaranteed to you by the first document penned for our country and it's people and the lack of respect it's given in schools.
Link: http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/legal_features.asp?article_id=60
Many of us have let the government and it's agencies control things that they have no right to control. What my kids eat and wear are my decisions. Where they are at any given time, and who they're with, also my decision.
If I enroll my child in your institution, I can also withdraw them at any time I choose. Be it during an emergency evacuation or not. Also, if you pay close attention to the way the article was worded, you will see that students were not under quarantine, they had simply been evacuated from the premises.
It seems to me that the teachers and staff didn't want to put in the work of recording names by hand on a clipboard as students were picked up. Did you forget in the few short years you've been with a computer that once it was all done on paper? Or do you not know how to work anything without a mouse?
The truth is that we as parents and citizens need to reduce the power given to these agencies in order to prevent a future monarchy like the one our ancestors left Europe for. I'd rather the risk of a sick child than a another group who thinks they can control my family. You tend yours, I'll tend mine.
Please help us to put these people back in their place of "limited power". Educate yourself, vote for the right candidates. Don't vote to pass bills or measures that give more ridiculous amounts of control to these groups. Fight the power and bring the control home where it belongs.
PLEASE give me a break
Did I read this right?
That's right...let's just
No, schools keep records of
Wow
Students must be signed out
Hmmm
I am just gald everyone is