Something stinks at a West El Paso middle school, and the school district has spent 18 months trying to figure out what.

The odor began appearing in the boys' locker room last September, right after Brown Middle School opened. The smell then moved to other parts of the building. "It would come and go, that's what was so bad about it, it was hard to track, it was like a ghost," said principal Victoria York.

The El Paso Independent School district tried a number of ways to detect and remove the smell, from replacing toilets to hiring private contractors, but it wasn't until recently that they determined it was coming from outside.

The district held a meeting Wednesday to tell parents about it, but they say it's way too late. "We should have been notified right off the bat that they knew about the odor, they knew there was a problem but yes they were addressing it," said concerned parent, Ms. Trevillin.

Other parents say their children have been experiencing head aches and fatigue since the odor has arose. However, York says the school nurse hasn't seen any signs which would lead her to believe the odor was causing health problems.

EPISD is now working with the Water Utility Department and a private contractor to check the plumbing system surrounding the school.