Holly Glen Elementary School in Williamstown, N.J., closed in October because of serious mold contamination, will not reopen for the remainder of the school year.
The Cherry Hill Courier Post reports that Monroe Township School District Superintendent Charles Earling announced the update in a letter posted on the district's website.
After widespread mold concerns surfaced at Holly Glen in October, the district temporarily shut down all six of its schools for mold inspections and air-quality testing.
Four of the schools were reopened after a week. Whitehall Elementary School will reopen in January; it had been shut down since October for mold and asbestos remediation.
Holly Glen's 500-plus students have been attending classes at Radix and Oak Knoll elementary schools and Williamstown High School.
In his letter to parents, Earling says Holly Glen students and staff will remain housed in the buildings where they are now for the remainder of the 2017-18 school year.
“There is no truth whatsoever that the Holly Glen Elementary School will be torn down,” Earling wrote. “We have learned that there are moisture issues surrounding the exterior foundation of the building that must corrected, and water is a concern coming off the roof through drain pipes and spilling into the ground and going under the foundation.”
Earling says Holly Glen also needs a new HVAC system.
The districtwide mold crisis escalated in October after the release of a consultant's report that described mold contamination throughout Holly Glen—in desks, lockers, bookcases, toy cases and rubber toys; closet and bathroom doors; window frames and blinds; ceiling tiles and beams; shelves, a bathroom sink, a coat rack, a refrigerator and a sandbox table.
