HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Work is underway to remove mold from two classrooms at Guyandotte Elementary School in Cabell County.
Students and staff transitioned to virtual learning Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday while crews work to remove the mold from the media center and the music room and conduct more testing throughout the school.
Justin Boggs, deputy superintendent of Cabell County Schools’ Division of District Operations & Support, said the mold was due to humidity issues in the building that started in September.
“We had those rooms tested and we found that those two rooms did have issues, so what we did is we made sure to have those rooms cleaned,” he said.
Carpets were professional cleaned last month; however, Boggs said mold levels still tested positive, so they decided to bring in a company that specializes in mold removal. Another round of cleaning is underway this week.
Boggs said the decision to close school was made out of an abundance of caution to protect the safety of both students and faculty members.
“There was reports of a staff member who had an allergic reaction to something that was not in one of those rooms and just out of an abundance of caution we decided to close school and that they would go virtual,” he said.
No students and staff have been inside the media center or the music room in the last month.
Boggs said they didn’t want to prevent students from missing any days of school, which is why he said going virtual was the best option.
“We want continuity with our students and virtual may not be an ideal thing, but this way the teachers can still check in on the students,” he said.
The goal is to reopen school Thursday.
“Just want to ensure that those students and staff members come back to a clean environment that is free of anything. We just want to make sure we do this the right way,” Boggs said.