About 180 first- and second-graders from Eugene Sires Elementary School boarded buses on a Monday morning in Summerville, South Carolina, for what was meant to be a standard end-of-year field trip to the Cinemark on Ladson Road. By the time it was over, 32 of those kids were ill, parents throughout the district were receiving calls from unknown numbers, EMS had been contacted, and poison control had been alerted.
It’s the kind of day that no one anticipates. The answers have also been slow to come in the days that have passed.
Ashley Williams, whose daughter was one of the sick children, gave a detailed account of receiving the call. It wasn’t the school’s number. The person on the phone informed her that her daughter had become ill during the field trip, that poison control was involved, that EMS had been called, and that she needed to come get her. “It was pretty scary,” Williams remarked. I think that’s an understatement. Hearing that your young child is ill somewhere you sent them to have fun is particularly unsettling.
By most accounts, the school responded swiftly. As soon as the kids became sick, a teacher chaperone alerted the administrators. Nurses from the district were sent to the Cinemark. The school nurse and EMS were waiting for the sick students after it was decided they were stable enough to return to campus. Families were contacted. That same Monday, the South Carolina Department of Public Health received notification and launched an inquiry.
It’s still unknown what caused it. During its most recent inspection in February 2025, the Cinemark on Ladson Road received an A rating; all previous inspections that are available also yielded excellent results. Dorchester School District Two’s director of nursing and health services, Amanda Sims, stated she had never seen anything like it in her tenure. She told reporters, “This is definitely an unusual situation,” which sounds both sincere and a little lacking—the kind of cautious language you use when you’re waiting on agencies that aren’t under your control. To its credit, the district hasn’t attempted to anticipate discoveries that it hasn’t yet made. Sims was straightforward about it: they are observing, they are not in charge of the investigation, and they are deferring to the relevant agencies.
As of this writing, the theater has not made any public comments. That quiet will most likely not age well.
Located at 301 Chandler Creek Road, Eugene Sires Elementary is tucked away in what the school’s website characterizes as a suburban setting within Pine Trace Park. Serving approximately 886 students in pre-K through fifth grade, it is ranked fifth among elementary schools in Dorchester District Two and 180th statewide out of more than 600 South Carolina schools. Its students outperform state averages, with 56% of them scoring at or above proficiency in math and 54% in reading. Economically disadvantaged students make up 66% of the student body. It’s the type of school that puts forth a lot of effort, outperforms its peers, and typically stays out of the spotlight.
It was not like last week.
The investigation may eventually yield a definitive explanation, such as a batch of snacks that were improperly stored, a residue from a cleaning product, or something that can be tracked down and avoided. The response might also be less clear. Williams stated that although her daughter has healed and is feeling normal again, she is still seeking accountability. “Nobody wants to be in that situation and be left clueless,” she replied. It makes sense to want that. Health organizations, a chain of movie theaters, and a school district are now tasked with helping to determine whether the investigation succeeds.
