Education News in Brief

Authorities Probing Possible Tainting of Flutes Given to California Districts

By Tribune News Service — October 10, 2017 1 min read
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State and federal officials are investigating how batches of plastic flutes believed to be contaminated with semen were distributed in the spring to schools in Southern California.

Officials believe 14 districts are possibly affected, including ones in Saugus, the Newport Beach-Costa Mesa area, and Fountain Valley.

Authorities are investigating a music teaching specialist suspected of contaminating musical instruments with semen. The suspect has not been identified.

A spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency said last week that based on public information, “the situation does not present a health concern.”

District officials said they received the potentially contaminated flutes in June through an independent contractor’s music-enrichment program called Flutes Across the World.

A version of this article appeared in the October 11, 2017 edition of Education Week as Authorities Probing Possible Tainting of Flutes Given to California Districts

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