MARION (WSIL) � Wednesday may be the first day of school for thousands of students in the region, but because of mold, that wasn’t the case for fourth and fifth graders at Lincoln Elementary School in Marion.
Principal John Fletcher says three weeks ago, a teacher seeing mold on a couple of desks.
Fletcher and his team took this issue seriously, "A decision was made, ‘Hey let’s bring in a testing groupâ€�, which is protocol."Â
He says the testing and cleaning took about ten days.Â
Fletcher says officials believe the mold was caused by the warm weather, "There’s an extreme temperature event and that effects the HVAC system that’s all about airflow and humidity."
Officials say all mold has been removed from the school, but due to the cleanup and testing, most of the fourth and fifth grade classrooms aren’t set up.Â
"Rooms needed to be put together. Some ceiling tile needed to be replaced, books needed to be brought out and unpacked," explains Fletcher.Â
Fletcher says, although this experience was a bit challenging, but his staff made things easier, "Kindergarten through fifth grade all helped each other we had district help, too."
Fourth and fifth grade students are now scheduled to start school Friday, August 16th.
