OTTAWA — Ottawa-Glandorf schools will temporarily move five high school classes after a routine maintenance check revealed mold in five classrooms on the first floor.
An industrial hygienist from Belfor Property Restoration collected 34 samples, and test results were received Thursday. The results limited the problem to the five classrooms. An investigation revealed that the mold problem came from a control board in a unit ventilator that failed in one of the rooms. The failure caused the HVAC unit to run continuously. The temperature and humidity differential between the room and two adjacent rooms caused the walls to sweat, which led to the forming of the mold.
Belfor has been contracted to clean the mold up. Air scrubbers and hepa filters are being used to clean the air in the first and second floor hallways as a precautionary measure, although no mold issues were detected outside the five classrooms.
“We do not have any information on cost estimates since we just started the cleanup,” said Ottawa-Glandorf Superintendent Don Horstman. “We are working with our insurance company on cost estimates and billing. Our first concern was getting the cleanup started.”
Horstman said he did not know what kind of mold was found.
Belfor is currently working to seal the rooms and are cleaning and dehumidifying the affected areas.
A press release from the school district said students would be notified through their district email accounts of where to report to class if they were in one of the rooms affected. All staff can still report to their rooms other than the five affected rooms. School is scheduled to open Tuesday for the entire district.
“Before we allow anyone back into these areas, Belfor will conduct further tests to make sure the air quality measures are at acceptable levels,” Horstman said. “Our number one goal is to make sure everything is done correctly, and not rush into this process.”
Once the cleanup is complete, Horstman said all filters in the entire high school would be replaced as a precautionary measure.
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