KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Knox County Schools Superintendent Jon Rysewyk announced an internal review after authorities said a contract employee deliberately left gas valves open overnight at Hardin Valley Academy.
Parents from Hardin Valley Academy are demanding answers following Thursday's incident.
Rysewyk said the internal review will look at the actions taken by school and district leaders as well as review protocols and procedures in place to address similar situations in the future.
On Thursday, Hardin Valley Academy was evacuated and classes were dismissed early after Knox County Schools workers found a gas valve had been left on overnight, causing a strong gas smell to fill the hallways.
KCS said Thursday night that the gas valve had been intentionally left on by a contract custodian, identified by the Knox County Sheriff's Office as Jay Riley Kostermans, 23, of Knoxville.
It was determined that Kostermans turned on the two gas valves in the chemistry lab "out of anger over a dispute with his mother," according to the KCSO arrest report.
The school was evacuated and dismissed early hours after the discovery Thursday morning. KCS said that fans were set up soon after discovering the gas and doors were opened to ventilate the area, while KCS Maintenance workers and emergency personnel worked to make sure students were safe.
Parents said they were angered it took school leaders hours to warn them and take action last Thursday. Jenna Bella said her daughter attends HVA and was breathing in the smell of gas for about three hours.
"She said the smell was terrible. Absolutely terrible," Bella said. "You could smell it everywhere, and everyone was complaining about their heads hurting. These students and faculty.... they could have died."
Bella said she didn't receive any calls or messages from the school to explain the emergency, saying the only message she got that day came about nine hours later in an app the school uses to send messages.
"The lack of communication when there is a gas leak, and the school was being evacuated with thousands of students not knowing how they're going to get home... that's not taking their safety into consideration," she said.
HVA Principal Rob Speas said he made a mistake that day while trying to send messages to parents.
"While trying to work quickly as we evacuated...I failed to click the override button that would have pushed all messages to send immediately. I will not make this mistake again," he said.