West Texas school officials have decided to pay $30,000 in health care costs for students exposed to mercury brought to a school by an Odessa ninth-grader.
The Odessa American reported Wednesday that Ector County Independent School District trustees voted to cap the amount at $30,000 for students contaminated in the March 18 incident.
The medical costs of affected teachers at John B. Hood Junior High School are covered under workers compensation.
Nobody was injured but as many as 70 people were taken to hospitals after exposure to the toxic element.
A boy told officials he found the mercury in a plastic bottle in an alley on the way to school. Investigators believe the student did not know the substance was mercury.
The preliminary school cleanup cost has reached $900,000.
