"We have an odor coming from a field adjacent to the campus, and it's affecting a small amount of kids," said Jill Yoshimatsu, acting head of the Department of Education's Kaua'i Complex Area.

Kaua'i Fire Department hazardous materials crews were on site investigating the source of the smell, Yoshimatsu said. A parent who was on campus this morning said she detected a caustic-like substance while monitoring her son's class.

"It instantly started to burn my nostrils and the back of my throat. Students were trying to cover their mouths and faces with T-shirts and jackets. After dealing with it for 15 minutes I couldn't stand it any more," said Edene Gonsalves, of Waimea. She said she then pulled her sixth-grade sonout of school, and began calling government agencies and news outlets.

"My son will not be going back to that school until this is taken care of," she said. Gonsalves said she learned that school officials had seen someone spraying something on a field immediately west of the campus, and that unusual wind conditions were blowing it into the campus.

Yoshimatsu said the school has been in touch with the neighboring landowner, who denies anything was sprayed on the land recently. She said school personnel detected an odd odor yesterday afternoon.