California school flutes may be tainted with man’s bodily fluids
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LOS ANGELES — Flutes handed out at schools across southern California may have been contaminated with a man’s body fluids, something that has parents understandably concerned.
KCBS reports Tudy Balta took her kids to the Fountain Valley Police Station to hand over two plastic flutes after learning about the possible contamination.
“My kids had brought these flutes home and they’re putting their mouths on it and they’re playing with these instruments, and for someone else to contaminate them with their bodily fluids, that’s disgusting,” Balta said. “My kids could have gotten sick.”
On Friday, Fountain Valley Superintendent Mark Johnson sent out an email explaining to parents that flutes given to fifth-graders at Courreges Elementary School in June 2017 may be contaminated with bodily fluid.
Los Angeles Unified School District officials say the decorated PVC pipes may have been handed out to countless school children in at least 13 other districts across southern California.
“For me, it’s really concerning as a parent, because I don’t know if like three months down the line they’re going to get sick or something,” said parent Jannis Lorenz.
The email from Fountain Valley Unified said the flutes came from a music enrichment program called Flutes Around the World.
The California Department of Justice and the US Postal Service are investigating the suspect. They’re not naming him, and they’re not saying what charges he may face.
CNN reached out to the Flutes Around the World program for comment, but did not hear back,
Parent Katrina Leiva is among those who are very concerned.
“I said, ‘What was the guy like?’” Leiva said of a conversation with her young son about the flutes’ distributor. “And he said, ‘He was weird, completely weird. Gave me the creeps.’ Even the teacher, his actual teacher, said that the guy gave her the creeps.”
It is not clear how many kids may be impacted, but officials said they have reached out to parents directly.