AUBURN – Some Auburn Middle School students dunked a chemical hand-warming packet into a science teacher’s coffee last week. It is unclear whether the teacher drank it.

School officials refused to say how many students were involved, why they did it or whether they were disciplined. Superintendent Barbara Eretzian would say only “the incident was dealt with.”

“I can’t get into the case because it involves student issues,” she said.

The poisoned coffee belonged to Linda Prescott, an eighth-grade science teacher.

Prescott said she’s been asked not to comment on the incident, though she did say she’s fine and doesn’t want the students involved vilified by the community.

“These are kids that are really young,” she said.

Prescott has taught for 27 years, nine of them at Auburn Middle School. On RateMyTeachers.com she is not popular with students. Of the 14 ratings left since 2003, 10 are negative. One student last year called her “one of the worst and meanest teachers I have had.”

In 2005, Prescott went onto the site and thanked a student who had written, “Ms. Prescott is the best teacher I ever had.”

Along with the thank you, Prescott said she hoped she could change the mind of a student who didn’t rate her well.

Eretzian declined to say whether the students poisoned Prescott’s coffee to play a prank, to retaliate for something or to be malicious.

Hand-warmers come in disposable cloth pouches and typically contain iron powder, salt, charcoal and vermiculite, a mineral that helps the packet retain heat. Hand-warmer packages warn that iron can be harmful, and they advise people to call a poison control center if swallowed.

Eretzian didn’t know whether Prescott went to the hospital. The Auburn Fire Department has no record of an emergency medical call to the middle school last week.