Laurel Highlands Middle School delays in-person instruction over mold concerns
Laurel Highlands Middle School will move to remote instruction for the first two weeks of school so contractors can work to address mold and mildew issues found at the building, Superintendent Jesse Wallace said Thursday.
Classes for all of the students in the district will resume Tuesday, Aug. 25. The new in-person start date at the middle school will be Sept. 8. The district will determine by Sept. 2 if any additional delays are required, administrators said Thursday.
District administrators learned last week of the discovery of the mold and mildew problems, which Superintendent Jesse Wallace said stemmed from the installation of pipe insulation that was not rated for cold-water pipes. The condensation from those pipes has been leaking through the ceiling tiles. Moisture also gets trapped in the classroom from rewaxing of floors during summer cleaning, Wallace said.
Additionally, Wallace, said the HVAC ventilators in the rooms are not equipped to take in cold air, and were mistakenly attached with cold-weather piping for air conditioning.
“Because of that moisture, we’ve had mildew and very small amounts of mold show up, which is what everyone is talking about,” he said Thursday. “So what we’re doing is we are going to postpone face-to-face learning until the contractor can get in there and rip out all of the faulty insulation and ceiling tile and properly eradicate any of the moisture damage that’s done and help us come up with a solution path into eradicating it on a permanent basis.”
While replacing ceiling tiles in 24 areas of the school identified by the district last week in response to concerns from a staff member, crews from remediation company Firewater Response found suspect fungal amplification on soft-good furniture and pipe insulation in the rooms, Firewater said in a letter to the district.
Firewater’s analysis of air quality testing showed results were in the normal range.
“We’re just not putting anybody in the building, so the contractor has the space and latitude to eradicate and remove all the unsuitable material,” Wallace said.
Wallace said the district hopes to be able to get back in the building sooner, but that will depend on how much time the contractors need.
“The safety and welfare of the building occupants, students, staff, and visitors and parents is our utmost concern, and we are trying to be as transparent as we can,” he said Thursday. “And as we get information, and as we get any type of documentation, we have no problem sharing that with the public, and we’re going to continue to do so.”