North Cedar High School makes plans to rid school of smell after vandalism

CEDAR COUNTY - Vandals struck North Cedar High School sometime over the weekend, dumping silage - rotten grain - in the school's cafeteria. The resulting odor and cleanup effort caused school officials to cancel classes on Monday. On Tuesday, one parent told TV9 she believed classes should have been canceled at least one more day, after she heard complaints from students who said the smell was still strong inside the building.

'Originally I saw posts on Facebook from just other students that were there,” Molly Sanders said, which prompted her to pick up her son Tanner. 'Kids were walking through the halls ... covering their mouths.”

Tanner Sanders said even with open windows and doors airing out the halls at the high school, it still 'smelled like puke and cow crap, and all that.”

Tanner and his mom wondered if school should have been canceled on Tuesday.

'There was a lot of kids saying that. Teachers, too,” Tanner told us.

But superintendent Mike Cooper said school leaders weren't expecting things to go perfectly on Tuesday. He and other school officials held a meeting that morning to discuss the odor issue, and decided that even though it was still strong near the cafeteria, it was safe enough for students to return to class.

'We anticipated that some students would want to go home, because it is quite strong downstairs,” said Cooper.

Cooper told TV9 he's still working with professional cleaners to find the best solution, even as that part of the building will no longer be used after the end of the academic year. High school students will be going to the expanded middle and high school in Clarence this fall.

'We'll probably have to take the carpet up and take the ceiling tile out, because the odor, I think the chemicals are in there,” Cooper explained.

Now, Cooper is addressing the fact that the vandals likely had a key to the school, as there were no signs of forced entry.

'The video surveillance cameras show that they walked right through the front door,” said Cooper, who's reminding students and parents that it was a select few who made one bad decision. 'I wouldn't label it a senior prank, because then you're talking about all of our seniors.”

The Cedar County Sheriff's Office declined to comment on the investigation.