Prussing Elementary (Google Earth)
The Chicago Board of Education approved payouts totaling more than $800,000 to settle a pair of lawsuits after dozens of students were hospitalized following a carbon monoxide leak at Prussing Elementary in 2015.
The seven-member board voted unanimously in favor of the agreements, which would settle a pair of lawsuits filed by Prussing parents after at least 71 students and seven adults were taken to the hospital as a result of the leak.
The settlement agreements were in the amounts of $230,000 and $612,000, according to the board agenda.
The Jefferson Park neighborhood elementary school was evacuated around 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 30, 2015, after one student began suffering a headache, nausea and dizziness, according to DNAinfo.
Chicago firefighters subsequently discovered dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide in the building, DNAinfo reported at the time.
A CPS spokesperson this week said that “Chicago Public Schools is committed to ensuring that all students have a safe learning environment.”
According to CPS, all schools are now outfitted with carbon monoxide detectors beyond what the city code requires, and all district-run schools have funding allocations for a full-time engineer.
