Plum Delays Start Of School Year Due To Mold

PLUM, PA -- Students in the Plum School District are getting an unexpected extra week of summer vacation. The 2018-19 school year was supposed to start on Aug.28, but the district announced Monday the school year won’t begin until Sept. 4.

The district cited “recently identified air quality concerns” at Plum Senior High School and Oblock Junior High School as the reason for the delay.

“We recognize this will be an inconvenience and appreciate your patience, but the Plum Borough School District will always place the safety of our students and staff as its number one priority,” a message on the district website stated.

High school administrators were notified on Aug. 24 that three rooms that contained mold on some surfaces within those classrooms. The rooms were closed and cleaned and AGX Inc., an environmental engineering company, was contracted to advise the district on the mold issue.

Air samples of the affected areas, including the surrounding hallways outside those classrooms, were also taken. The preliminary inspection and spore count testing identified a non-hazardous variety of mold (aspergillus/penicillium), but the air quality in two rooms was considered degraded.

Additional air samples be collected on Aug. 25 in unreported areas throughout the entire complex to assure that the air quality was at acceptable levels for occupancy. The results indicated degraded levels in five specific areas. The district subsequently

Subsequently, the district discovered that eight classrooms at Oblock Junior High indicating might also need to be remediated. The start of the school year is being postponed to allow for air sample testing in all district buildings and professional cleaning if it is deemed necessary.

The air testing takes a minimum of 48 hours to obtain results after the remediation has taken place.

The 2018-2019 school calendar is being revised to reflect the change and will be posted on the website. Parents are advised to monitor school websites for updates.

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