By Howard Koplowitz
Classes resumed Monday for the four high schools that make up the campus, according to DOE spokeswoman Margie Feinberg.”Just as a precaution they cordoned off the building,” Feinberg said.She said the spill “is being looked into” and may have been caused by a barometer that fell.”It's an old barometer,” she said.. While students and teachers were bused to four nearby schools last week, a crew cleaned up the spill.”Thursday when we went to report to work, everything was taped off,” said a school staffer, who did not want to disclose her name because she was not authorized to speak about the spill. “It's an unbelievable thing.”Feinberg said students from the Humanities and Arts High School were relocated to Carver High School, while Business and Computer Applications students were taken to IS 192, pupils at Law, Government and Finance to PS 147 and Math, Science and Research students to PS 136.The four schools make up what is known as Campus Magnet, formerly known as Andrew Jackson High School, in Cambria Heights.The staffer said notices were handed out to students and teachers that morning notifying them about the spill.She said she was told a school aide cleaning one of the rooms March 5 at the complex dropped a box that included a container of mercury, which spilled onto the floor.Although the school was closed last Thursday, the Campus Magnet basketball team hosted a game at the school the night before, the staffer said.Concerned for her health, she said she had a doctor's appointment to check for mercury poisoning after she came down with “a terrible stomach ache and headache” the day of the spill.No classes were conducted at PS 147, according to the staffer, where children and teachers sat in the auditorium and watched movies during the school day.Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
