On Wednesday, April 21st, the whole school building was evacuated near the end of the school day.

The custodial engineering team confirmed that an older portion of the in-class HVAC unit motor burned out and some smoke from the unit spread in the building, primarily on the third floor.

WJPS math teacher Mr. Teterukov said, “When the students started walking into the classroom at the end of the seventh period, some of them commented on the bad smell, and I wasn’t as aware of it since I was in the room all day. As time went on, the smell got stronger to the point that I smelled it a bit too, but, being unsure of its origin, we stayed put.”

The custodial staff contained the problem, and then once the power was shut off, they extinguished the burning around the unit. The FDNY was still called, and the building was evacuated.

An indoor air quality test was conducted, and the air quality was safe for re-entry. Students and staff remained outside for nearly an hour.

WJPS assistant principal Mr. Yarmy said, “Going forward, our custodial staff will be replacing some of these older components and examining those that are in place to make certain that we do everything that we can to prevent another equipment malfunction. But for this particular incident, we did respond exactly as we should have.”