Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District is ready to resume classes Monday.
The school buildings have been closed since the morning of Aug. 30 due to issues with Foxburg Borough’s water supply.
After several leaks in the water lines were repaired, the borough and school district have been waiting for the Department of Environmental Protection to determine the water supply is safe. The water had been dark brown, and members of the Foxburg Water and Sewer Authority said that was caused by sediment in the lines.
“Our plan is to have school Monday no matter what,” McDeavitt said. “The only thing that will keep us out of school Monday is if we don’t have water at all. This has been a real frustrating situation.”
If the DEP hasn’t cleared the water as safe to drink, the district will provide hand sanitizer, bottled water and a modified cafeteria menu, McDeavitt said.
“We’ll have to shut off water to the water fountains and sinks and make sure it’s running to the toilets,” McDeavitt said. “We’re going to err on the side of caution, because we don’t want kids not washing their hands, and we don’t want dirty water circulating through the buildings.”
McDeavitt said that rumors concerning mold in the high school building are inaccurate, but that there had been an issue with moisture because of a ventilator system that was improperly programmed.
“We don’t have a mold issue,” he said. “There was potential, but fortunately we acted quickly.”
McDeavitt said the ventilator system caused a large amount of condensation in the new math wing. The construction crew that has been working on the building hired a professional cleaning service. When the room was tested for mold, the tests showed no mold was present.
A professional cleaning service was hired for this issue as well. When the room was tested, McDeavitt said the tests showed high levels of spores but no mold.
Until the possibility of mold is eliminated completely, McDeavitt said band classes will be held in a different area.
McDeavitt said the district school board will create a plan to make up the missed school days, if necessary. In the meantime, he has requested that the state Department of Education waive the requirement to make up the missed days due to circumstances beyond the district’s control.