Carpentersville students taken to hospital

Students fell ill again at a Carpentersville school Thursday - one week after school officials said they were ventilating the school to clear the fumes that sickened students last week.

Three students who were feeling ill after inhaling fumes at Golfview Elementary School were taken to Sherman Hospital in Elgin as a precautionary measure, according to the Carpentersville Fire Department. Their conditions were not known early Thursday night. Two other students and a teacher were treated at the school.

School administrators and staff moved students into the gymnasium while Carpentersville firefighters investigated the odor. Students were dismissed early and will be back at school Monday, their next regularly scheduled school day.

An investigation determined that fumes were present in two classrooms and the library. Tests for the presence of hazardous chemicals or carbon monoxide came back negative, according to the fire department.

Community Unit District 300 officials said last week some students and staff at Golfview and Parkview elementary schools, both in Carpentersville, fell ill after inhaling fumes from chemicals that contractors had used during spring break to remove asbestos.

Superintendent Ken Arndt said last week that despite the fact several students and teachers had fallen ill, the fumes did not pose a health risk. He also said the district was ventilating the schools.

Arndt said Thursday that school officials were continuing to ventilate Golfview and that he was not aware of any lingering issues at Parkview.

"There's definitely a noticeable odor that we think is coming from the cleaning supplies when some of the asbestos was removed," Arndt said. "We're doing about everything you can possibly do."

Golfview and Parkview are both undergoing renovations under a plan to alleviate crowding at some schools on the district's east side.

Arndt said the district tries to schedule renovation work when students are not in school. The asbestos removal at the schools was done during spring break.

"It's impossible to do it all during the summer," Arndt said. "We've had similar concerns in the past, but it hasn't lasted this long."