What FOIA documents say about conditions in Barack Obama ES before/during mold issue

RICHMOND, Va. — After a nine-day delay, students were able to walk through the doors of Barack Obama Elementary School Thursday morning to start their school year.

The school was closed while crews addressed mold in the school they say was caused by issues with the HVAC and moist pipes. CBS 6 obtained documents through a Freedom of Information Act request that included a report from the contractor who dealt with the mold about conditions they found in the school and issues that could allow mold to return if not addressed.

In the August 26th contractor's report, it provided a room-by-room breakdown of the conditions their crews observed and what would need to be done to fix the issues. It also included 11 "conditions observed throughout the assessed portions of the building included varying degrees of:

• Visible suspected microbial/mold-like growth on building materials, furnishings, shelving, panel systems, corkboards, blinds, tables, desks, and other contents.
• Significant accumulated dust and particulate matter.
• Elevated moisture readings in selected walls and subfloor materials.
• Active or suspected plumbing and roof leaks.
• Water-impacted ceiling tiles.
• Suspected microbial growth on or around plumbing components and HVAC/register areas.
• Moisture trapped behind wall panels or within concealed cavities.
• Areas where excessive contents restrict access and may prevent complete cleaning of all surfaces.
• Bathroom subfloor moisture associated with plumbing fixtures.
• Ceiling cavities requiring additional inspection and cleaning after leak repairs and removal of affected ceiling materials.
• Certain porous contents requiring laundering, cleaning, removal, or disposal before post-remediation testing."

The report's authors added that whatever mold remediation is could not be considered a permanent solution "where the underlying source of moisture remains active."

The report recommended Richmond Public Schools mobilize crews "to address building materials that require removal and replacement" and recommended the following as priority repair areas:

• Hallway ceiling tiles
• Principal's office ceiling tiles
• Bathroom ceiling tiles
• Third-floor office ceiling tiles
• Areas affected by active plumbing leaks
• Areas affected by roof leakage
• Wet or damaged subfloor materials
• Saturated plaster/wall materials
• Ceiling cavities requiring access after tile removal

Many of the issues highlight in the report were potentially mirrored in work orders at the school over the past year. They included several for leaks in the ceiling or roof, which ranged from Dec. 2, 2025 to May 12, 2026.

CBS 6 asked for more information about the orders, including the Dec. 2 ceiling leak, which had a resolution date of Apr. 13, 2026. An RPS spokesperson said a note associated with the resolution stated the work to fix the issue was actually completed by a contractor on Dec. 20, 2025 (which was the first date a contractor was available).

Another work order from July 6, 2026 listed "No AC" and did not have a resolution date until Aug. 16. RPS said the issue was with the school's chiller (which has been a known issue since May) and "required an onsite reset. The work order shows the issue was resolved within a few hours, allowing the HVAC system to continue operating normally. This was a routine service call and not an HVAC system failure."

RPS' spokesperson said work order descriptions are submitted by school-based staff and "reflects what they are experiencing or observing and does not necessarily match the cause of the issue". They added that crews work to resolve issues as soon as possible, but "a work order may remain open after the physical work is completed while the necessary procurement processes are completed. An open work order does not necessarily indicate that the repair has not been made."

As for the recommendations for long-term fixes in the contractor's report, iin his twice daily updates Kamras did mention facilities teams were addressing "secondary repairs" and mentioned things like roof and window leaks, floor moisture fixes, and ongoing HVAC maintenance. CBS 6 asked RPS how many of the recommendations had been acted upon and the spokesperson said:

"Addressing and preventing sources of moisture in the building has also been an ongoing effort, with a number of repairs already completed. Roof and plumbing pipe leaks have been repaired, and ceiling tiles affected by moisture have been replaced. RPS has also taken preventative measures to keep future leaks from occurring. These steps were outlined in Jason’s update earlier [Wednesday]," the spokesperson said.

Among those preventative measures, Kamras said the school was "instituting a regular monthly schedule of air quality testing to ensure long-term air safety."

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