UPDATE: Central High School students will return to class on Monday.
According to BISD's short term plan:
Central High School tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students will be moved to the Austin Innovation Center campus,
Central High School ninth grade students will return to school at the CHS campus in buildings that are separate from the main Central High School structure
Early College High School students will be moved to the Lamar Institute of Technology campus.
Paul Brown Learning Center students will be moved to the Ozen High School campus.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Central Medical Magnet High School students will not attend school on the campus for the third day following the re-closure of the campus due to air-quality issues following water intrusion from Hurricane Harvey.
Late Wednesday the district released several pages of documents to the media just over an hour after a meeting with Central High School staff members.
According to the documents, All Points Environmental LLC performed a follow up assessment for mold at Central High School’s main building on Sept. 19 after the school experienced issues since it opened on Sept. 13.
According to the inspection letter from All Points Environmental LLC, mold was found on AC units inside the classroom, on ceiling tiles and on fluorescent lights.
The company said laboratory tests indicated there are “chains of mold in the air” and an “active fungal colony inside the school.”
One type of mold that was found is Chaetomium which grows when there are chronic moisture conditions in the air according to the letter. The company explains this mold indicates there is an existing or previous serious moisture problem.
According to the documents, All Points Environmental, LLC cleared Central High School to open on Sept. 13 after taking air quality tests on Sept. 11.
In a letter on Sept. 12, APE stated mold for air samples were less than 80 percent of the outside concentration and no visible mold was present. The company said that no further remediation was needed but suggested the school should have frequent air samples to determine the quality of the air.
BISD said rain from last week and from Thursday caused a major water intrusion problem which originated from Hurricane Harvey.
In the Timeline document from BISD, the senior director for maintenance was alerted to potential air quality problems by APE on Sept. 19 after the company performed baseline testing.
According to the document, BISD received a written report from APE on Sept. 20. For the next two days BISD had outside contractors perform remediation.
However, when APE went back to the campus for testing they told the district there was “minimal air quality improvement."
The district decided to close Central High School for the safety of students and teachers on Sept. 22.
The district's short-term plan, which was released on Monday, was updated to reflect that students in the Early College College High School program will move to Lamar Institute of Technology.
No dates have been announced yet for the student re-location assignments mentioned in the short-term plan.
In one document the district listed long-term options for the beleaguered school that included everything from repairing the current building a new school.
While other options may be considered according to the district here are the options presented so far...
- Repair the main Central High School structure
- Build a new Central High School for 1,300 students
- Build a new combined Central High School and Ozen High School
- Merge Central High School and Ozen High School on the Ozen High School campus
- Disband Smith Middle School next summer
- Send SMS students to multiple middle schools
- Convert SMS back to a high school.
- Demolish and rebuild the main Central High School structure
A meeting for Central HS parents will be held 6 p.m. Wednesday, September 27, at the West Brook High School Performing Arts Center.
FROM BISD | Potential Long-term Options for Central HS
FROM BISD | Timeline regarding closure of Central HS