Scranton superintendent says district evacuated buildings after natural‑gas odors; UGI and fire department notified

Superintendent Dr. Keating told the Scranton School District Board on Feb. 3 that school officials evacuated West Scranton High School, West Intermediate and McNichols Plaza this month after staff or students reported a natural‑gas odor.

"Whenever we have that, when there's unknown variables, we do evacuate to our evacuation locations at that time and we contact UGI and the fire department, because we want to make sure the buildings are safe for people to be in," Dr. Keating said during her superintendent's report.

She said the district follows up after each incident. "I did speak with chief judge of the Scranton Fire Department today after the incident and he kind of ensured me that sometimes during these winter months we do see an increase in these natural gas odors. But we will always, always air on the side of caution for the students and the staff and have the building properly swept by UGI to make sure there's nothing in the building that is harmful," she said.

Dr. Keating told the board that the odor reports sometimes originated outside the building and that UGI and fire officials cleared buildings before students and staff returned. She said the district posts and offers additional information to families and that parents who contacted the district earlier that day had their concerns addressed.

The superintendent also clarified one prior incident: during a construction activity at a site she discussed publicly, a gas‑powered piece of machinery and elevated carbon‑monoxide readings in a construction area prompted an evacuation; that event was not a natural gas line leak, she said.

No formal motion or policy change was proposed; board members asked for clarification and the superintendent said parents may contact her office with questions.