The mysterious illness that caused the absences of nearly 20 percent of the student population at North Bergen’s Franklin Elementary School two weeks ago remained a mystery last week, even while the school’s entire population was off for the winter recess.
According to township spokesman Craig Schmalz, air and water samples taken from the school last week and tested by New Wave Consultants, Inc. of Butler, N.J. and the school’s architectural firm of Mayo Lynch Associates of Secaucus came back negative.
“Because of the results of the tests, we have ruled out that there was any bacteria in the school’s air or water supply,” Schmalz said. “We wanted to be very sure that there wasn’t anything further going on. All of the actions are proactive to make sure that there wasn’t something more serious. The test results proved that there was nothing in the air and water.”
Schmalz said that the township was still awaiting results from random stool samples taken from 25 people, both students and teachers, to determine if there was something viral being passed in terms of a possible bacterial infection or perhaps food poisoning.
The state Department of Health was conducting the stool samples, but the tests were not returned by press time. “We just want to verify that there was nothing truly serious was here,” Schmalz said. “So far, so good.”
Schmalz said that the school was totally cleaned and disinfected twice since it was closed for health reasons last Thursday, after it was determined that 130 of the approximately 780 students were out sick, most of whom complained of stomach cramps and nausea.
“The school is totally cleaned,” Schmalz said. “They used antiseptic once, then did another cleaning this week while the school was closed, just to play safe.”
However, there still has yet to be a determination as to what caused the rash of illnesses and absences.
“We don’t want to speculate, but it could be that we’ll never know,” Schmalz said. “Right now, there is no determination as to what caused it. But we do know now that it was not caused by the water or the air.”
After conducting a thorough cleaning, North Bergen Health Director Richard Censullo firmly believes that the school will be cleared to be opened in time for classes on Monday.
“I’m very confident that the school will be open on Monday,” Censullo said. “Since I’ve seen absolutely nothing in the building that could have caused this, it’s led me to believe that it was some form of a neuro-virus that spreads easier.”
Censullo said that there was a day care center in the township that had similar symptoms and same absence rate. “There were 30 of the 35 kids in the center that were out with the stomach flu,” Censullo said. “It seems like the same thing happened here.”
Censullo said that every parent of every single kid who was out sick has been contacted and asked for a health update.
“After we contacted every parent, we determined that every child became well after three days or so,” Censullo said. “That also made me think it was a virus. Things should level out and return to normal by Monday.”
Censullo said that the school was checked for mold and he even went as far as to check neighborhood stores and delicatessens to determine if that was a place of origin.
“There wasn’t a stone left unturned,” Censullo said. “We even went to the caterers who handle the food in the cafeteria and had them checked, because I believe this is a virus that travels from hand-to-hand. Unless the state tests show something differently, then we should be open on Monday.”