ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. — In a Wednesday morning meeting, Alamance County commissioners approved an extra $5 million to address mold issues in several Alamance-Burlington schools. Of the amount, $4 million will come from the school district's capital reserve and $1 million from North Carolina Education Lottery funds.
Where will the money go?
The school district shared the amount of funding being used so far for some of the schools.
$5 million - Eastlawn Elementary, Haw River Elementary, Southern Middle School, Sylvan Elementary, Western High School, and Western Middle School (approved Wednesday, Aug. 30)
$1.2 million - Andrews & Newlin (mold remediation and HVAC Repairs)
$3.5 million - Cummings, Broadview, Williams (approved on Monday, Aug. 28)
So far this totals nearly $10 million approved.
The next meeting is planned for Friday at 3 p.m. to discuss funding.
How many schools are impacted and what will it cost to fix it?
To date, 17 schools have been identified as having mold issues. ABSS said the total cost to fully fix mold issues across all ABSS facilities is estimated at $20 million. That amount does not include additional HVAC upgrades, roof repairs, and structural issues.
Some ABBS parents believe the price tag of $20 million could be avoided.
"We wouldn't be here, we wouldn't be looking at you know multiple more millions of dollars if they had fixed issues as reported and properly maintained building," Robin Ritter said.
The meeting today lasted three hours, another parent told us the district needs too do whatever it take to get kids back into school.
"I want our district to finally put the politics aside and fund our children fund our schools and that is something that has not been substantially done for the last 20 years. There are children who this week do not have access to food because our schools are closed," Brandy Whittaker said.
What are the 17 impacted schools?
- Alexander Wilson Elementary -- Remediation in progress
- Broadview Middle -- Remediation in progress; toxic mold found
- Cummings High -- Remediation in progress; toxic mold found
- E.M. Holt Elementary -- Remediation in progress
- Eastlawn Elementary -- Remediation in progress
- Eastern High -- Remediation in progress
- Garrett Elementary -- Remediation in progress
- Graham High -- Remediation in progress
- Haw River Elementary -- Remediation in progress
- South Mebane Elementary -- Remediation in progress
- Southern Middle -- Remediation in progress
- Sylvan Elementary -- Remediation in progress
- Western High -- Remediation in progress
- Western Middle -- Remediation in progress
- Williams High -- Remediation in progress
- Andrews Elementary -- Remediation completed
- Newlin Elementary -- Remediation nearing completion
Where was toxic mold discovered?
ABSS officials said environmental inspectors did additional testing in several schools and found toxic mold at Cummings High School and Broadview Middle School. Remediation efforts are underway at both schools. The type of toxic mold that was found is called Chaetomium, which typically comes from water damage over time. There are different protocols for getting rid of toxic mold, like removing sheetrock, furniture, and other building materials impacted.
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