A dozen children and two adults were served floor sealant instead of milk at a day care summer program at a Juneau elementary school last week after workers poured from the wrong container.
Several students complained of burning sensations in their mouth and throats, and at least one child was treated at a hospital after the incident on the morning of June 14, Juneau Schools Superintendent Bridget Weiss said.
Juneau police are leading the investigation of how the mix-up occurred, “not really because we believe there’s anything criminal or mal-intent at this point, but we do want a thorough investigation of what happened, how it happened,” Weiss said June 15.
The incident happened while students in the day care program at Sitʼ Eeti Shaanáx̱ - Glacier Valley Elementary were served breakfast. The program is for kids ages 5 to 12.
NANA Management Services is the school district contractor that prepares the meals. Dawn Kimberlin, the company’s vice president of marketing and communications, said in an email interview June 15 that the company is working closely with the district to determine the cause of the mix-up.
“We immediately dispatched our safety team to Juneau,” she wrote. “We are in the midst of a comprehensive internal investigation.”
The breakfast items, including glasses of the supposed milk, were put on trays, which students took to tables to eat. Shortly after, children began complaining that the milk tasted bad and caused burning sensations in their mouths and throats.
After school district and contractor personnel looked at the label, it was discovered the clear plastic bag of liquid contained floor sealant, which resembles milk in appearance.
Poison control officials were contacted as well as parents. Two of the children who were picked up by their parents may have sought medical advice, the district said.
Weiss said the milk and the floor sealant, which is also a milky, white substance, both come in large plastic bags stored inside cardboard boxes.
A food service worker failed to follow a “sip before serve” policy when floor sealant was served, two top officials at the food service company told the Juneau school board during a special meeting Friday.
School District Chief of Staff Kristin Bartlett said by email Friday that as the investigation has progressed, school officials have determined that a pallet of floor sealant was mistakenly delivered to a district food commodity warehouse in spring 2021, at the same time as four pallets of shelf-stable milk. The warehouse is intended for food items only.
“The pallet of floor sealant remained untouched in storage with other food products until this week,” when the district’s food service contractor “ran short on milk and sent staff to retrieve shelf-stable milk,” the district statement said.
Three boxes of floor sealant were picked up from the warehouse by the contractor, with one delivered to the summer program, the statement said. According to the district statement, a worker with the contractor “took the box of floor sealant and poured its contents into cups to be served at breakfast.”
The other boxes of sealant were delivered to two other schools and remained unopened, according to the statement.
Donna Baldwin said her 8-year-old grandson was among those who drank the sealant. He told her the milk burned his throat, that his stomach hurt and that he was dizzy. Baldwin took him to the emergency department at the hospital, where his oxygen levels were normal, she told Juneau public radio station KTOO.
But her grandson was still dizzy and nauseated a day later, and Baldwin told the radio station June 15 she planned to take him to Seattle Children’s Hospital for follow-up tests.
Baldwin and other parents told KTOO the school should have notified families immediately after the incident, not hours later.
Superintendent Weiss said the reason it took so long to contact parents was that staff wanted to make sure the kids were safe before reaching out to parents.
There was no odor or chemical smell to the sealant.
The liquid was Hillyard Seal 341, which according to a safety data sheet is “expected to be a low ingestion hazard.” Weiss said there is typically a 48-hour window for people who have ingested it to show symptoms.
A couple of children still had upset stomachs the evening of the incident, but many others were feeling well, she said.
The sealant later was placed in a separate storage area.
The Juneau Empire and Juneau KTOO radio contributed to this report.
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