ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. — UPDATE: Mold was discovered at Williams High School on Monday.
Alamance Burlington Schools officials said mold has been discovered at three more schools.
District officials said mold issues were found at Cummings High School and Broadview Middle School over the weekend. Mold was discovered in Williams High School on Monday. ABSS is waiting on test results to determine the next steps.
"It has come to our attention that there are recurring mold problems in parts of these school facilities," Superintendent Dr. Dain Butler said. "With recent construction work and fluctuations in weather, the mold growth has accelerated."
The district's plan is to figure out the underlying causes, including leaks, moisture buildup, and poor ventilation. All areas will be thoroughly cleaned before students and staff are allowed to be in these buildings.
"This is not something that we’re trying to hide. This is something that we’re aggressively attacking if you will, it’s a perfect storm. When you talk about the high humidity, we’ve had some HVAC issues, here at Cummings High School they’ve had construction going on all throughout the summer that fluctuates temperatures inside the building it’s the perfect storm for mold really, " ABSS Public Information Officer, Les Atkins said.
So far, the district has spent over $1.2 million on mold remediation and HVAC system repairs at Andrews and Newlin Elementary Schools.
Newlin will be temporarily relocated to Ray Street Academy to start the year. Ray Street students and staff will be moved to Graham Middle School.
A Cummings High School student is nervous about this possible switch, although it is not stopping her from being excited for the upcoming school year, "mold can really get you sick and stuff like that and I don’t wanna get sick. Our cheerleaders don’t wanna get sick, we don’t wanna get sick from games and stuff and that’s also kind of scary because I’m a cheerleader at Cummings High School and what if I have to go to Graham or Williams," Cumming High School Student, A'Janai Vasquez said. "Oh my gosh, if we get sent to another school, I would be not less excited, but I would be more scared to go to school because I would be the new girl all over again."
When asked about the timeline of all this, how the mold when unnoticed for the majority of the summer and creating panic before the start of the school year, but the mold was not even on ABSS's radar until they opened up schools for the first time since summer break started and found mold on various surfaces.
"It was not on the radar. No, not at all. It was discovered early or I guess late in the summer if you will, and immediately the board held an emergency meeting to contract with Sasser restoration to get this cleaned up and we want to do what’s right obviously and the safety of our students and staff is our priority when it comes to this," Atkins said.
Cleanup at Andrews Elementary has been completed. Cleanup at Newlin Elementary has started. Cleanup at both Broadview Middle and Cummings High is expected to start soon.
Williams High School is closed to students and staff. Administrators and staff will be moved to Turrentine Middle School while awaiting testing.
"This will require coordinated effort and patience as we tackle both the immediate issues and root causes," Butler added.
The ABSS Board of Education plans to discuss the possibility of getting an outside firm to conduct indoor air quality testing and reevaluate roofing systems at all facilities on Monday, August 28.
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