Authorities still have more questions than answers after a teacher and a student at a rural Washington County school suffered chemical burns when the teacher opened what she thought was a routine piece of mail.

Classes at the Argyle Central School were canceled for three days to allow hazardous materials teams to decontaminate the building and await lab work.

Initial fears of anthrax were ruled out immediately by a state Health Department laboratory. However, further tests only deepened the mystery: Police investigators and a state Health Department scientist told parents and staff at a community meeting that when they analyzed the mailing, no foreign substance could be detected.

That only increased the worries of first-year teacher Deborah Taylor, whose right forearm was still sore three days later with a burn three inches long and a half-inch wide.

The burn occurred when Taylor, who was talking to a student during her planning period, unzipped the tab on a familiar-looking white Post Office envelope and released a cloud of brownish powder into the air.

The exterior envelope, which apparently contained correspondence from a New Jersey-based educational book publisher, Prentice Hall, Inc., was addressed to a former business teacher Taylor replaced.

"She's since left for another school district, but I've gotten lots of mail addressed to her," Taylor said. "She gets lots of catalogs and ordered all kinds of supplies for this year. I just opened it automatically."

Taylor acknowledged she didn't take a close look at the exterior envelope, which police later told her contained a Post Office note apologizing for the "damaged condition" of material inside. She said she never saw what was inside the envelope.

"I never got that far," Taylor said. "When the powder poofed out and the student started blistering, I just took the envelope and ran down to the principal's office." Taylor was so concerned about the student, she didn't pay much attention to the burning sensation on her own arm.

Both Taylor and the student were taken to Glens Falls Hospital and released with a burn ointment for follow-up treatment.

Since then, the district has announced stronger emergency response procedures and a new mail protocol so that mail is inspected and opened away from students.

What you can do

Wendy Hord, New York State United Teachers' health and safety specialist, said the union has gotten a small number of calls from members or local leaders concerned about suspicious mail.

NYSUT is referring people to the bio-terror protocols put out jointly by the state Health Department and the state police (for more info, see ). In general, the protocols suggest carefully examining envelopes; using a letter opener instead of hands and opening items with minimum movement to avoid spilling contents. Hord said communication and follow-up are key.

Similar case in Delhi

Meanwhile, state police were looking into whether the Nov. 5 Argyle incident might be related to a similar case last month at a rural Delaware County school.

In the Delhi case, an administrative intern who opened the Oct. 24 letter reported seeing a "puff of white powder the size of a fist."

The woman reportedly had no adverse reaction to the substance, though the superintendent said the staff member was put on antibiotics as a precaution.

Police said both the Delhi and Argyle interior letters apparently came from Prentice Hall, but would give no further information. The exterior postmarks were difficult to read, police said.

A New York City-based spokeswoman for Prentice Hall said the company was advised by postal inspectors not to discuss the case with the media.

Argyle Teachers Association President Diane Vanyo said the school community was shocked by the incident, which underscored the need to take sensible precautions. "Everybody out there needs to take a good look at their mail - both at their homes and at school," she said.

While a few parents at an informational meeting questioned the practice of opening mail with students in the room, Vanyo said teachers are "always doing two things at once ... we all get piles and piles of mail." The new protocols ensure no mail is opened near students.

Vanyo said the district has appeared concerned about the staff's and students' safety. "If anything, they've erred on the side of caution, with our protection as the top priority," Vanyo said. "That's why they didn't open the school for three days."

Vanyo and the teacher agreed that communication from authorities could have been better. "When we learned it wasn't anthrax, we heard that from the media," Vanyo said.

- Sylvia Saunders

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