More than two dozen children from Atlanta were rushed to the hospital on Valentine's Day, and officials think holiday candy is to blame. Twenty-eight students felt "nauseated and disoriented" shortly after noon at Sandtown Middle School, Fulton County Schools Chief Academic Officer Cliff Jones said in a statement. The students became sick "after ingesting snacks and candy brought to school," Jones said. "For the safety of all, students and staff were instructed not to eat anything given to them by another person and not to eat anything they didn’t bring from their own home," he added. None of the children were seriously ill. "They ate something that caused some kind of reaction. It wasn’t anything life-threatening," South Fulton Fire Department Deputy Chief Jack Butler told NBC News. "Once you get that many kids suffering the same thing, you have to figure out what's going on." Sandtown Principal Estella Cook told parents in a letter that it is is unclear what caused the students to feel ill. "Please know that we want answers as much as you do, and will cooperate with all agencies to find out what happened," Cook said. Fulton County School police are investigating, but Butler had his guess. "Something in the candy,” he said. “I’m sure it’s something along that line."<doc-sep>The district’s police department is investigating the incident “but does not yet have a determination of what led to the students feeling ill,” he said. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta spokeswoman Jessica Pope said earlier that “patients are now currently under observation by physicians.” Talked with the mayor of South Fulton, he told me about 20 children from Sandtown middle school sick from Valentine’s Day candy. Children were taken to nearby hospitals. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/VzMc20FzOE — Dave Huddleston (@DaveHWSB) February 14, 2019 Epidemiologists, led by the Fulton County Board of Health, are looking into the incident. Food samples are being tested by the GBI. Spokeswoman Alicia Cardwell Alston said the health board is trying to determine the cause of the sickness. She said officials should know more by Friday morning. “We don’t have enough to be conclusive really,” she said Thursday afternoon. Fulton school board president Linda Bryant, who represents the area that includes Sandtown Middle School, said that the district’s area superintendent and other staff are at the two hospitals monitoring how children are doing. In other news:<doc-sep>Several students at Atlanta’s Sandtown Middle School were sent to the hospital on Thursday after complaining that they felt ill More than two dozen students at a middle school in Georgia were hospitalized on Valentine’s Day after eating candy that left them feeling ill. The students, who attend Sandtown Middle School in Atlanta, complained that they were feeling sick after eating candy and snacks at school on Thursday, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Get push notifications with news, features and more. School officials first told local ABC station WSB-TV that 21 students had reported feeling sick, but that number grew to 28 by late Thursday afternoon. After being evaluated by paramedics, Fulton County School District spokeswoman Susan Romanick told the AJC that the students were all taken to a local hospital, the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta campuses at Hughes Spalding and Egleston. Of the 28 students hospitalized, 25 were released to their parents or guardians on Friday, Romanick told PEOPLE. Several students said that they felt “nauseated and disoriented,” Cliff Jones, the district’s chief academic officer, said in a statement to the AJC. “When students began reporting their symptoms, we partnered with local municipalities to immediately get them medical attention as quickly as possible. For the safety of all, students and staff were instructed not to eat anything given to them by another person and not to eat anything they didn’t bring from their own home,” he said. It is not clear whether Valentine’s Day candy specifically was the cause of the illness. Romanick told PEOPLE on Friday afternoon, “at this time, we cannot confirm that food or candy was the source of the students’ illnesses, but it is being investigated.” She added that the district’s police department would likely be partnering up with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to conduct an analysis of food samples obtained by school police investigators. “Until the investigation is complete, the school system cannot make a determination of what caused students’ illnesses, its origin, if there was a deliberate, wrongful act committed, or if criminal charges or student discipline will be levied,” Romanick said.<doc-sep>
Schools 28 Students Sickened By Valentine's Candy At Fulton School The students began feeling sick around noon Thursday. They were taken to local hospitals, and police are still investigating. Reply SOUTH FULTON, GA -- Twenty-eight Sandtown Middle School students were taken to local hospitals Thursday afternoon after they became sick from eating Valentine's Day candy. According to the Fulton County School District, the students began complaining of feeling nauseated and disoriented after ingesting snacks and candy brought to school. Emergency medical personnel was called to evaluate the students. The students were taken to the Hughes Spalding and Egleston campuses of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Grady Hospital. School officials said late Thursday afternoon that when students began reporting their symptoms, it partnered with local municipalities to immediately get them medical attention as quickly as possible. "For the safety of all, students and staff were instructed not to eat anything given to them by another person and not to eat anything they didn't bring from their own home," the system said. Fulton County police are still investigating, but has not yet determined what led to the students feeling ill. According to South Fulton Mayor Bill Edwards, the children were in the same class. Edwards said Sandtown Principal Estella Cook and her staff "did an outstanding job in making sure our children were safe." Earlier reports from several Atlanta media outlets said the school was evacuated were incorrect. "I know that people are using the terms like active incident, but trust me everybody performed superbly," Edwards said in a social media post.