32 elementary students sickened after field trip to South Carolina movie theater field trip

A reward field trip for elementary school turned into a “nightmare” this week as more than 30 children became sick.

The incident occurred on Monday, May 18, when first and second-grade students of Eugene Sires Elementary School visited a Cinemark theatre in Ladson to watch “The Land Before Time.”

At the end of the day, Dorchester District Two announced that 32 kids were assessed by the school nurse.

Sierra Denny is one of the parents accompanying the students on the field trip, and she described the situation as very chaotic. Not long after the movie started, one kid stood up and announced that she was feeling ill and then threw up right away.

Denny said, “They have not had a single field trip this year, so they were all pretty excited. This was a nightmare.”

Responding to the situation, Chaperons and staff quickly moved students into hallways, checking temperatures and tracking symptoms.

Some parents claimed that they were only informed of their children being sick once they got back to school. Some were sent questionnaires asking if their children ate popcorn or drank soda while on the trip.

It was stated that the School District contacted both Poison Control and the South Carolina Department of Public Health, who are currently investigating the reason for the illness.

A February 2025 inspection gave the theatre an “A” rating.

The district’s nursing director said, “We don’t speculate on the cause. We defer to those agencies.”

Some students who didn’t initially get sick have since developed similar symptoms.