Maple Grove teacher on paid leave after fire

Article by: Star Tribune
Updated: December 5, 2011 - 11:56 PM

The last of four students hurt in science class has left the hospital.

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At HCMC, Maple Grove Jr. H.S. student Dane Neuberger suffered burns to his face and hands talked to reporters while surrounded by his mother Lisa .

Photo: Richard Tsong-Taatarii, Star Tribune

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The Maple Grove Junior High School teacher whose science experiment went awry and burned four students, one of them seriously, has been placed on paid administrative leave during the school district's investigation.

Matthew Achor will remain on leave until the investigation is complete, district spokeswoman Barbara Olson said Monday.

Achor has been with the Osseo School District since 1985, according to state teacher licensing records.

The most seriously burned of the four was Dane Neuberger, who was sitting close to the experiment when it blew up and set his face on fire on Thursday.

Neuberger, 15, and three others were treated at the Hennepin County Medical Center. The other three were not kept at the hospital. Neuberger left over the weekend.

Neuberger said that the first time that Achor dropped a match into a jug of methanol there was a loud boom and a small flame. He and the others were burned the second time the teacher did the experiment.

A telephone message left at Achor's home Monday was not immediately returned.

PAUL WALSH