LEWISVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Officials say an overheated and smoldering Chromebook caused about 600 children to be evacuated from a North Carolina school, whose district is now recalling about $4.2 million dollars’ worth of district-issued laptops.

Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools‘ chief technology officer, Kevin Sherrill, told reporters at a Wednesday news conference that the children were evacuated that morning after the 2015 laptop began to smoke.

District spokesman Brent Campbell said a Lewisville Elementary third grader reported the laptop was getting hot, and it then started to smoke. He says the classroom and building were evacuated, and the laptop was sprayed with a fire extinguisher.

Sherrill says the laptop likely suffered a battery-related issue. The district is now recalling all 20,000 of its 2015 Chromebooks, which Sherrill says are each valued at about $210.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC.