On Wednesday, the night of Open House, Principal Mario Acosta ordered a batch of pizzas from DoubleDave’s for the whole staff. Many teachers and coaches took home the leftover pizzas for their families, but some left it for lunch the next day. 

Special Education teacher Heather Dickson was eating a slice of the leftover pizza at her desk on Sept. 13 when she noticed something was wrong.

“I took one bite and then had a second bite and while I’m chewing it, I think ‘this isn’t chewing up very well,’” Ms. Dickson said. “I don’t want to pull the food out of my mouth but I have to; as I’m pulling it out of my mouth I see pink and purple. I put it on my plate, and I just go into shock and freeze. I lay it down on my desk [and] look at the Band-Aid, and there’s blood on it. I was so grossed out; I chewed that. It was so disgusting. It was in the dough.”

Mr. Acosta, after hearing about the bandage, immediately contacted the City of Austin’s health department. All teachers who are worried were advised to see their doctors. However, school nurse Rita Chavez-Riley isn’t that concerned.

“Bacteria is killed at 160 degrees and up,” Ms. Chavez-Riley said. “The ovens that cook pizza are pretty hot, so I’m sure that any bacteria is dead if it ever was there.”

The DoubleDave’s on Anderson Mill declined to comment on the incident, and administration is still waiting for the city health department to finish their investigation. Nevertheless, Ms. Dickson is worried about the well-being of the staff.

“I got to thinking, how many people have had this pizza? Like, every staff member and coach who took boxes of pizza home to their families and their babies. And I think [to myself] ‘Oh my god; Who is going to be infected by this? It’s not just me,’” Ms. Dickson said.

Mr. Acosta sent an email out regarding the issue to all staff members, stating that the Round Rock ISD Health and Risk Management Department advises anyone concerned to file a workman’s compensation claim.

“The safety and well-being of our staff is a top priority,” the email read. “We are taking this issue very seriously and are working with all appropriate agencies to ensure that the issue is handled correctly.”