Averted Disaster Reveals Atlanta School's Negligence

City of Atlanta

Thankfully what could have turned into a major disaster striking at every parent's deepest fear in an Atlanta elementary school involved only the hospitalization of 42 elementary school students when a carbon monoxide leak went undetected due to a lack of sufficient detectors on campus. Despite burning sufficient fossil fuels to pose a potential risk, Georgia law did not require the detectors, a situation that is likely to now change due to the event.

It's odorless, colorless and deadly. And if carbon monoxide is leaking in a school, it might not be detected until people are ill.

A leak at an Atlanta elementary school that sent 42 students and seven adults to hospitals had school officials considering whether to install carbon monoxide detectors, a possibly life-saving move that is only required in a handful of states.

The detectors are not required in schools by law in Georgia and other states. Connecticut requires them in schools, while Maryland requires them in newly built and remodeled schools.