Bad odour shutters tiny Severn Bridge elementary school

K.P. Manson Public School was evacuated after a noxious smell became evident early Wednesday morning. (Photo: Internet)

A noxious smell at a tiny school in Severn Bridge interrupted the day’s classes.

Teachers and staff responded to the odour immediately by rerouting buses to the nearby Severn Bridge Woman’s Institute shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday.

“(I) think just some staff were at the school, likely not very many students if any at that hour of the incident,” said Carolynne Bull, manager of communications with the Trillium Lakelands District School Board.

K.P. Manson Public School, the small elementary school north of Orillia, houses about 175 students.

By 10:30 a.m., the school board’s facility services had discovered a leak in the gas supply line on the outside of the building on the roof.

Bull said the school wouldn’t open to students and staff on Wednesday while the issue was being fixed.

Bull said staff will remain at the Women’s Institute with the students, and transportation will be on schedule, however, children would be bused directly from the Women’s Institute.

She said parents can pick up their children early if they desire.

“Families will receive another communication this evening about the status of the school for Thursday,” Bull said.