RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond Public Schools confirmed Thursday that Barack Obama Elementary School's first day of school will be Tuesday, Aug. 25, at the earliest, after an air quality test came back positive for elevated levels of mold spores.
Superintendent Jason Kamras notified staff and families in a letter Thursday that external partners conducted an air quality test and the results showed elevated mold spore levels. The district plans another round of cleaning and remediation Friday, followed by additional air quality testing Saturday morning. Because teachers will need Monday to set up their classrooms, the earliest students can return is Tuesday.
"Nobody will enter the building until we are absolutely certain it is safe to do so," Kamras said in the announcement.
The mold issue stems from an HVAC outage that caused mold growth in the school's basement and on some furniture, impacting the building's air quality. The district also received reports of rodents in several rooms. Richmond Public Schools partnered with professional contractors to clean the building, including the HVAC ductwork, change air filters, and remediate the mold.
The district had previously anticipated completing cleaning and remediation by Thursday morning, with an independent vendor conducting an air quality test afterward. Had that test come back negative, the building would have opened in time for the original first day of school Monday, Aug. 24.
The original letter alerting families to the mold and rodent issues came the night before the school's open house Thursday afternoon, which was moved outdoors while remediation work continued.
Many parents said they have had positive experiences with the school and trust the district's response.
"We love all the teachers, everybody, the staff," Alyssa Dunson said.
"We love this school," Scott Stearman said. "They're not going to put the kids in there if it's unsafe."
"Small, family sort of atmosphere. Teachers have been great, administration has been great," David Young said.
At least one mother said the issues should have been addressed over the summer.
"I can understand why a school would have those issues, however, I feel like we're had all summer to take care of this, and I feel like there should be annual checks. When the school lets out, why aren't we inspecting?" the anonymous mother said.
Young said he is concerned that a potential delay could be more harmful than helpful.
"You're delaying education time, you're delaying IEPs, you're delaying kids who rely on schools meal," Young said.
The anonymous mother also questioned the district's contingency planning.
"If this was your Plan A, then what's up for Plan B? Are you going to distribute computers? Are the kids going to have to work from home? Their education does not deserve to be delayed because you didn't take the school as priority," she said. "On time is safe for me, so whenever it's safe for these children to go, then they can go, I'm not rushing that process at all."
Kamras said the district will continue to update families via ParentSquare as air quality test results become available and will also publish results on the Barack Obama Elementary website.
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