MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS) said Monday night that Peabody Elementary School will remain closed until at least fall break after they announced that they found mold inside the building.
In a statement, the school district said that while they made progress over the weekend, the problem is worse than they thought and students will be relocated to Middle College High School.
ACB24 reached out to MSCS asking when exactly the mold was discovered inside Peabody Elementary, but they have not responded at this time.
On Sept. 7, the district said mold was detected in first floor vents and grates and is due to the recent storms. The second and third floors of the school were not affected, MSCS said, but they did check that ductwork and air quality.
“A lot of times, when it's in a grill, a supply grill or or a return grill, it's caused by condensation in that area,” said Stan Moser of Memphis Mold Inspector. “It would form on that typically, more times than not like 90 percent of the time or even more. It's a mold called Cladosporium. It's a very common outdoor mold. It's not a black mold.”
MSCS said they have developed a four-step plan to address the issue:
Remove the mold.
Test the air quality before students and staff return.
Deep clean the affected areas.
Conduct air quality tests at all district schools over the next 90 days and retest the air quality at Peabody.
But Moser, who said he is the only licensed mold assessor in Tennessee, wants to know when they tested the mold, which should have been the first step.
“If it's visible, you do a surface lift, as well as an air test in that space," Moser said. "And the reason for that: You're trying to find out if it is mold, if it's airborne or not.”
And he said that determines how one gets rid of it.
“If it's just on a surface and not airborne, you can just treat that,” he said. “If it's airborne, then you have to clean everything in detail, clean everything in that space. And so then you also have to test the next adjacent space, even though there's no visible (mold) there.”
The school district has not made public what type of mold is inside Peabody, which Moser said should not take very long.
“If we do samples today, you should gets results tomorrow,” he said.
Peabody students will remain out of class Tuesday and Wednesday and begin attending school at Middle College High on Thursday.