Mold cleanup will take weeks
Thursday school board meeting will deal with questions PHOENIXVILLE
PENNSBURG » The news about an infestation of mold in Upper Perkiomen High School is not getting any better.
In a letter to parents sent Wednesday, Superintendent Alexis McGloin reported that work in order to clean “or encapsulate” dust and mold from the oldest part of the building’s HVAC system, work must “continue during after school hours for the next few weeks.”
As a result, “HVAC systems throughout the building will be completely shut down as work continues. Students and staff should dress accordingly over the coming weeks,” wrote McGloin.
On Saturday, Sept. 8, McGloin informed the school community that the discovery of mold in the high school would require that the high school building be closed this week, and that make-up days had been scheduled to later in the year.
Since then, there has been a communication nearly every day regarding the impacts of the closing, such as moving senior pictures and bus arrangements for those students who attend the Western Center for Technical Education in Limerick.
On Wednesday, McGloin outlined another impact — the need for additional work means the closing of the building after school hours. The most immediate affect of that is that Friday night’s football game, originally scheduled to be a home game, will be played at Fleetwood instead.
“A home football game requires significant use of our indoor facilities, which will not be released to us until Monday,” McGloin wrote, adding “activities that were scheduled for Friday night’s game, including the Second Annual Project Live Memorial and Youth Football Night, will be rescheduled for a home game later in the season.”
Another sporting event, Thursday’s water polo match “will be moved to Reading at 5:30 p.m.,” she wrote.
“Other upcoming Indians athletic events will continue as scheduled, as they are less dependent on the indoor facilities that won’t be released until next week, and do not have the same impact on the school as a home football game with significant community attendance. The Valley Soccer games scheduled for Saturday and Sunday and Upper Perk Indian Youth Football game scheduled for Sunday at the high school will be moved to the middle school,” according to McGloin.
However, the gymnasium area is expected to be available next week, so the impact on athletic events will be minimal.
The district has informed the community that “we will be dedicating a significant portion of our board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. to discussing these concerns.
That meeting is scheduled for the Education Center at 2229 East Buck Road.
The district has hired 1Source Safety and Health Inc. and BELFOR Property Restoration to deal with the mold problem and representatives from the cleaning company will be available to answer questions at Thursday’s school board meeting.