Police have issued summonses for three John W. McDevitt Middle School students for attempting to poison their teacher with a cleaning solution, said Detective Sgt. Tim King.
King said on Nov. 12 at about 9:45 a.m., an unidentified teacher at McDevitt reported her water bottle had been tampered with.
The police investigation concluded the students, two of whom are 13, the other, 12, tried to poison the teacher by putting a cleaning solvent - possibly white board cleaner - into her water bottle, King said.
Waltham Schools Superintendent Peter Azar said the teacher never drank the tainted water, because she could smell some kind of chemical in it.
Administrators have suspended the students indefinitely, Azar said.
Police were called, he said, "because there was a chemical that raised concern'' involved, possibly more than one, including ammonia.
"It was probably not straight ammonia,'' Azar said.
Neither Azar nor King knew the concentration of the chemical(s), or how much had been put into the teacher's water.
"That doesn't matter. What matters to me is that it was a chemical of concern. It was a poor decision on the kids' part, whether it was a joke or they did it because they were angry with her,'' Azar said.
"We were fortunate the kids didn't hurt someone,'' he said.
Azar said the term "poison'' was an exaggeration, that the drink had only been "tampered with.''
"I don't think the kids tried to do malicious damage to the teacher,'' said Azar.
McDevitt Principal Brad Morgan could not be reached for comment.
WALTHAM —
