A Kansas district has had to temporarily close its alternative high school campus so it can replace the roof and rid the facility of dangerous chemical odors.
The Kansas City Star reports that the Shawnee Mission district is relocating students from Horizons High School in Mission to a former middle school campus while the roof is replaced.
District administrators had hoped that the problems that caused the chemical odors would have been resolved before the 2025-26 school year begins next week. Those efforts have not succeeded, so workers are replacing the entire roof at Horizons. In the meantime, students will attend classes several miles away on the Indian Creek campus, a former middle school.
“Obviously, this was not the outcome we were expecting, but it is the best decision for students and staff,” Shawnee Mission spokesperson David Smith said.
Smith could not say when students would be allowed to return to Horizons.
The air quality problems arose in May when classes were still in session and workers began repairing the roof at Horizon. Students and staff began noticing pungent odors, and some reported migraines and difficulty breathing. The building was shut down, and students finished the year elsewhere.
An air quality test conducted by Children’s Mercy Hospital's Environmental Health Division found dangerously high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOC) — chemicals that are typically found in paints, gasoline, kerosene, varnishes or other coatings. Horizons VOC levels measured 12,000 nanograms per liter — almost 24 times the recommended limit and four times the severe level, which is 3,000 nanograms per liter.
