Westland High School stayed closed through the end of the week as officials tried to find the source of an odor that sickened several students and teachers.

The school will remain closed on Monday, Feb. 20, for Presidents Day. Classes and other activities are expected to resume on Tuesday, Feb. 21.

Meanwhile, air quality and building system testing continued in an attempt to determine the source of an odor that left many feeling ill and nauseated and sent some to area hospitals.

On Feb. 13, four staff members and nine students experienced nausea and/or dizziness and were transported to Doctors West Hospital or Mt. Carmel West between 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. On Feb. 14, two students were transported to a nearby hospital.

Both days, students were sent home early after experiencing difficulty breathing and irritated eyes, said Phil Warner, South-Western City Schools deputy superintendent.

Warner addressed a concerned Westland Area Commission at its regular meeting Feb. 15 and told members that the school would not be open to students or for any extracurricular activities until Feb. 21.

“We started classes as usual on Monday but staff and students were overtaken by a smell,” Warner said. “We evacuated, had the facility checked and felt confident for students to return.”

But the same situation was repeated on Tuesday.

“Testing, to date, has not yielded any positive results to indicate the presence of a hazard — chemical, environmental or system-related,” executive director of communications Sandy Nekoloff told ThisWeek Feb. 16. “All test results to date have been negative.”

She had said on Monday that the Prairie Township Fire Department and Hazmat Team informed the district that the odor was an airborne irritant and exposure was acute. Air sampling and tests of the building’s heating systems yielded only negative results, Nekoloff said.

Problems with the boilers and carbon monoxide leaks have all been ruled out, Warner told WAC members.

“We believe that the odor is coming out of the same area of the school known as the 500 section,” Warner said. “There are chemistry labs there, but problems associated with those have been ruled out.”

Warner said two private companies were to come into the building and test the air quality. It will take a total of three days to get the lab results back.

“We just can’t identify the cause yet,” Warner said. “We are making plans for a parent meeting to take place Monday night (when) the air quality folks are there to answer questions.”

In the meantime, a wrestling tournament that was to be held at the school on Saturday was held instead at Central Crossing High School.

Warner said when the school does reopen, both private companies will be on hand to conduct on-the-spot testing of the air.

“We thought it would be in the best interest of the community to keep the school closed in order to regain parents’ confidence in sending kids back to the school.” Warner said.

The odor incident cost Westland all five of its calamity days for 2011-12.