One northeast Iowa school district near Waterloo dismissed classes early on Wednesday, due to a high level of carbon monoxide in the elementary building.

Hudson Community Schools let out at 11:30 AM, after district officials discovered a higher-than-normal level of carbon monoxide in the school's kitchen.

About an hour before students were dismissed for the day, school officials sent out a bulletin stating that Hudson Schools were letting out at 11:30 AM as a precautionary measure. The reason for the cancellation of afternoon classes was due to elevated carbon monoxide readings in the elementary kitchen, according to the bulletin.

The readings apparently have nothing to do with air-quality issues that the school had been dealing with recently, or any of the new construction.

A C.O. detector went off sometime during the morning, alerting district officials of the leak. In the bulletin, they said the source of the odorless, poisonous gas was traced back to an old heating unit in a storage room near the kitchen.

Although the gas levels were not immediately considered to be dangerous, district officials said they want to take time to correct the situation, and that putting student safety first is a high priority.

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