Teacher Recovering From Soda Laced With Cleaner

A Littlerock High School English teacher who became violently ill after drinking a soda that had been laced with cleaning fluid is expected to be released from a Palmdale hospital today.

Susan Ennis, 32, felt a burning sensation in her throat and started vomiting during a class Thursday morning after taking a sip from an open can of soda she had placed near an overhead projector, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators said.

She was immediately taken to Palmdale Hospital Medical Center.

Authorities are viewing the incident as a misguided prank.

“It doesn’t look premeditated,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Shreve of the Antelope Valley station. “We don’t think it’s an attempted murder.”

The soft drink had been next to the projector near a bottle of cleaning fluid for at least two class periods, Shreve said.

The soda can had the odor of cleaning fluid, according to sheriff’s reports.

Authorities said they believe a student poured the cleaning fluid into the soft drink, but have no suspects. They released no specific information about the type of cleaning fluid.

Ennis, who has been a teacher at the school for two years, said she isn’t sure when she will return to the classroom.

“I just don’t know what to think,” she said Friday from her hospital bed. “I love teaching and I truly love all my students.”

Ennis said she normally has a good rapport with students and is often asked to work with teen-agers who don’t get along well with other instructors.

“It’s a rough crew, but I really care about them,” Ennis said. “Maybe the person that did it didn’t realize how toxic it was.”

The incident reflects increasing incidents of violence on area campuses, said Antelope Valley Union High School District Trustee Bill Olenick. Evidence of the problems also can be seen in expulsions, which have grown from seven in 1985 to more than 50 in 1989, and amount to 35 already this year, Olenick said.

“Things have certainly changed,” said Olenick, who works as a juvenile probation officer. “Some of it is the board is getting tough, but the incidents of weapons and violence on campus have risen.”

The district is offering a $200 reward for information about the poisoning, Olenick said.

Ennis was listed in good condition Friday, but was scheduled to stay a second night at the hospital for additional testing, according to Cindy Reid, hospital spokeswoman.

Several of Ennis’ students have visited her, bearing flowers and expressing surprise about the incident, Ennis said.

“I still care about them,” she said. “My feelings about them haven’t changed.”