FRIENDSWOOD, Texas – Friendswood ISD says the start of the school year at Westwood Elementary School will be delayed as the district works to deal with moisture and mold inside the building.
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In a letter posted by the district on Facebook, the district said it hired a third-party environmental consultant to conduct air and surface testing in July after campus administration reported increased moisture and additional visible surface mold in portions of the building.
“The results indicated elevated mold levels in both air and surface samples that warranted immediate action. The testing did not identify the presence of black mold,” the district said. “The District partnered with its remediation contractor, Texas General Contractors, to further evaluate the conditions within the building. That evaluation found two primary factors contributing to the issue. Even though HVAC was running during the summer months, it was not sufficient to effectively manage the level of moisture within the building. Second, moisture associated with a portion of the HVAC system had saturated sections of the roof deck and infiltrated portions of the building. Once these conditions were identified, the District expanded the scope of work to address both the immediate concerns and the underlying causes.”
The district said replacement of the HVAC units contributing to the problem were already planned and work is scheduled to begin within the next few weeks. A portion of the roof over the affected areas is also approved to be replaced and they are working to schedule that.
“We recognize that our community expects us to provide safe learning environments for every child, and we acknowledge that in this instance, we fell short of that expectation. We take responsibility for correcting both the immediate issues and the underlying causes, and we are committed to implementing stronger monitoring, maintenance, and operational procedures to help prevent this from happening again,” the district said.
The district says this work must be completed before the building can safely reopen. Because of this, the start of the school year at Westwood Elementary will be delayed.
“In addition, Kinder Camp, originally scheduled for this week, has been postponed until a new date can be determined. We recognize this news is difficult and that it may create challenges for your family. We sincerely apologize for the disruption this causes and understand the inconvenience and uncertainty it brings. While we know everyone is eager to begin the new school year, we believe taking the time necessary to complete this work is the only responsible decision. The safety of our students and staff must come before any timeline,” the district said.
Right now, there is no set date for the campus to reopen, but the district says it will provide another update on Friday, Aug. 7.
The school year for Friendswood ISD starts on Tuesday, Aug. 18.