SPRING HILL, Tenn. (WTVF) — Some parents in Williamson County said they remain fearful about sending their children back to Chapman's Retreat Elementary School after classes were canceled to investigate potential gas leaks.
The school reopened Wednesday following multiple safety inspections.
Parents contacted News Channel 5 seeking answers about whether it's safe for students to return to the Spring Hill campus.
One father, who asked not to be identified to protect his child and partner who works at the school, expressed frustration with how the situation was handled.
"It's really disheartening," he said.
The concerned parent described how the school began smelling like rotten eggs last week.
"They make natural gas smell like that. If you smell that everyone knows there's only one source it can come from. Get everyone the heck out of the school," he said.
Despite the odor, students and staff continued attending school. An email from the principal indicated they believed the smell came from a small leak in a water heater gas line.
The father grew increasingly worried when his son and spouse came home sick.
"Lots of kids, lots of staff have headaches and nausea," he said.
The Spring Hill Fire Department was called to the school multiple times to investigate the cause. The district eventually canceled school, but the father questioned why the decision wasn't made earlier and how much his family's safety was compromised.
"It's maintenance, it's going to happen. It's part of having a large facility, but just be like 'Hey guys, there's a gas leak. We're working on figuring it out. Until we figure it out, we're not gonna have kids in school.' That would've been the right approach," he said.
"The fact that it's been ongoing and has had so many twists and turns, misguiding, misleading communications, it puts that unfortunate shadow of doubt in your mind," he added.
The school district said Atmos Energy found the building and foundation were safe, adding the company replaced some equipment in the building. When contacted about those findings, Atmos would only confirm the issues weren't related to natural gas.
"As far as my kid goes, I don't want him going back until we have some kind of document certification," the father said.
After multiple checks using sophisticated equipment, the district deemed the building safe for school. However, some families say they've heard similar assurances before.
A Williamson County Schools spokesperson said they found no evidence of a natural gas leak, air quality is normal, and all systems are working properly.
Atmos Energy released a statement saying:
"At this time, it is not related to natural gas. The safety of the Chapman's Retreat Elementary School students and staff, the public, our employees and our system are our highest priority. Our highly-trained technicians have assisted Williamson County Schools as their independent contractor tested the building's infrastructure. We want to thank WCS, Spring Hill Fire Department, and Williamson County Emergency Management for their partnership in safety."
Carol Birdsong, WCS Executive Director of Communications, sent a message to families and staff confirming school would resume:
"Our safety team has been told by Atmos Energy that there is no evidence of a natural gas leak in our building. All other tests indicate that the air quality is at a normal level. All systems are functioning properly. The sophisticated equipment that has been used by our emergency partners throughout this process indicates that no hazard is present inside or outside of the building."
If you have thoughts on this story email me at Amanda.Roberts@NewsChannel5.com
This story was reported on-air by Amanda Roberts and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
