Monday, May 20, 2019

New York schools settle for over one million dollars for 2014 rainbow demonstration incident:

Well, this is a long time in coming. From the New York Daily News: 
Two students traumatized by a horrifically botched classroom science experiment in 2014 have received over $1 million from the city. Former Beacon High School student Julia Saltonstall received a $750,000 settlement. Her classmate Sara Salitan received $400,000, documents filed in Manhattan Supreme Court show. The deals were made official Monday, which was to be the first day of a trial over their injuries.
Saltonstall suffered burns on her forearms, including a third-degree burn on her right arm, when teacher Anna Poole screwed up the chemistry “rainbow experiment.” She’d since coped with emotional trauma. Salitan’s injuries were “purely emotional and psychological in nature, including post traumatic stress disorder and depression,” according to a recent filing in the case. Messages for Saltonstall and Salitan’s attorneys were not returned....
...The rainbow experiment was designed to show students how different mineral salts produce multicolored flames when burned. On Jan. 2, 2014 Poole poured methanol from a one-gallon bottle into hot Petri dishes containing nitrates that had been on fire only moments earlier. The chemical cocktail created a blazing ribbon that flew across the table where Poole’s students were gathered, engulfing Yanes.... 
...The Daily News exclusively reported last year that Poole had received a promotion and was now working in the Education Department’s central office providing instructions to other educators about science-teaching techniques. 
Poole could not be reached for comment.
Well, maybe after another 25 kids are hurt and another couple million dollars in settlements are paid out that we'll get some change.

Another reminder that the American Chemical Society's Committee on Chemical Safety specifically recommends teachers "that the “Rainbow” demonstration on open benches involving the use of flammable solvents such as methanol be discontinued immediately due to extreme risk of flash fires and flame jetting."

1 comment:

looks like Blogger doesn't work with anonymous comments from Chrome browsers at the moment - works in Microsoft Edge, or from Chrome with a Blogger account - sorry! CJ 3/21/20