Speculation remains over the source of a pungent smell that disrupted classes in the English and art buildings starting from the beginning of third period today.

School administrators and maintenance crews have established that the smell is not dangerous, and have been investigating the school’s heating vents in an effort to pinpoint the cause of the smell, according to district plumber Joseph Park.

“It’s not strong enough to be dangerous,” Park said. “It’s not natural gas; it can’t be because it dispersed and now it is gone.”

Another possible source for the smell may be ducts connected to Town and Country.

“I did smell a rotten egg smell at about nine, wafting around the back parking lot,” said Issac Salinas of Overton Private Security, Town and Country’s security company.

Photography and yearbook teacher Margo Wixsom said she first noticed a smell like sulfur and rotten eggs around 10:30 a.m. in the art building.

Some students coped with the smell by opening and closing doors, as well as evacuating classrooms. The smell drove English teacher Julia Taylor’s classes out to the senior deck, where Taylor continued her lessons.

Other students found resourceful ways to deal with the odor.

“People were putting Purell on tissues and covering their noses with them,” junior Rebecca Howard said.

Health Technician Terri Weber says that no students or faculty have reported any queasiness as a result of the smell so far.

“It sounds like it’s pretty bad,” assistant principal Jerry Berkson said. “You know this doesn’t happen everyday, but we have had issues before.”

Though Park confirmed that the odor was not due to natural gas, in the event of a natural gas leak, Berkson suggests that the administration “look at the schedule and see what classes are open the second half of the day. Go through Ms. [Kimberly] Diorio and Ms. [Trinity] Klein to organize the movement of classrooms.”

At this point, since administrators cannot determine whether the smell is caused by a temporary source or a more permanent problem, they cannot predict any long-term effects of the odor, or whether or not it will lead to financial costs, according to Berkson.

Additional reporting done by Mary Albertoll, Mariah Philips and members of the fourth period Beginning Journalism class.