Family files lawsuit after 50+ middle schoolers served pretzels coated with oven cleaner at lunch

TIGARD, Ore. (KPTV/Gray News) - A family has filed a nearly $1 million lawsuit against an Oregon school district after pretzels seasoned with crushed oven cleaner were served to more than 50 middle school students last year.The lawsuit, filed Sept. 9, centers on an incident that took place at Fowler Middle School on Oct. 20, 2025, when about 37 pretzels coated with crushed Alto-Sham concentrated oven cleaner — a caustic industrial chemical containing sodium hydroxide — were served during sixth-grade lunch. More than 50 students ate all or part of the tainted pretzels, according to Tigard-Tualatin School District records.The school district has described the incident as “human error,” saying a kitchen staff member mistook the oven cleaner for salt. Tigard Police reviewed the case and did not file criminal charges.The family’s lawsuit names the school district, the lead kitchen worker who put the oven cleaner on the pretzels and Fowler Middle School Principal Cindy Pellicci. It lays out