SOUTH HADLEY — After two school years disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, students across the region are returning to full in-person learning this week — some for the first time in a year and a half.
But for high schoolers in South Hadley and Northampton, their in-person, back-to-school day has been delayed due to an altogether different problem that seems to be spreading in the region: mold.
Just one day before in-person classes were set to begin again at South Hadley High School, the district has informed high schoolers they will begin the semester remotely on Thursday instead after a substance was found growing on the school’s walls and furniture.
On the other side of the Connecticut River, a mold issue at Northampton High School has prompted district officials to close the building to staff on Wednesday and move the first day of school back one day to Friday. In a text message, Mayor David Narkewicz said that the issue was related to “the increased HVAC air circulation we’ve implemented for COVID.”
The two school closures come after the wettest July on record in Massachusetts. Just last week, staff evacuated from Springfield’s Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse over long-standing mold issues that had grown worse.
In South Hadley, schools Superintendent Jahmal Mosley sent a letter to families Tuesday that said a “white/black substance” was discovered Monday night.
“The district called Fermata Home Services and they took samples of the substance and sent it to a lab for testing,” Mosley wrote. “We do not know when the test results will be available. Regardless of the results, the high school will need to be thoroughly cleaned and closed at this time.”
Speaking Tuesday afternoon, Mosley said he wasn’t comfortable speculating about what the substance was — whether it was mold, fungus or something else. He said school administrators alerted him to the substance Monday, and that by Tuesday morning it had grown significantly. School Committee Chair Allison Schlachter said that committee members were in the building last week for a retreat and saw no mold at the time.
“We got as much as we could out of the building safely,” Mosley told the Gazette.
Mosley said that regardless of the results of the test, the school will need to be closed and thoroughly cleaned to ensure the issue is resolved and any other harmful substances are eradicated.
“In the meantime, all high school students will begin their first day of school remotely,” Mosley wrote to families. “I know how disappointing this sounds, but this is the safest way to start school for students and staff.”
In Northampton, parents received a robocall from Superintendent John Provost, in which he said the firm Green Environmental Consulting confirmed the presence of mold in classrooms on the ground floor and first floor of the high school after an inspection by a union representative and building maintenance staff.
Provost did not immediately return a voicemail left Tuesday evening. In his robocall, he said that the issue was not caused by a leak, but rather “by condensation from humid air brought into the building as part of our efforts to increase air exchanges.” After remediation work is done Wednesday, Provost said Green Environmental Consulting would retest air quality, with the moldy rooms remaining closed until the issue is resolved.
That will mean Northampton high schoolers anticipating their back-to-school day will have to wait at least one more day to start classes. Provost said the first day of school has been moved to Sept. 3 “unless we run into unforeseen problems with the cleanup.” An extra day will be added on to the end of the year to make up for the delay, he said.
There is no definitive date for South Hadley High School to reopen for in-person learning. In a school schedule accompanying Mosley’s message, South Hadley High School students are listed as taking part in remote learning “until further notice.”
Mosley’s letter notes that classes at Plains Elementary School, Mosier Elementary School and Michael E. Smith Middle School will remain in person, as will classes at the Career Technical Education Center.
Mosley said that free breakfast and lunch will be available for students to pick up at Michael E. Smith Middle School from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sept. 1, 7 and 13.
“I can imagine there’s a sense of disappointment,” he said. “But I think there’s an understanding that we have an obligation to keep our kids and staff safe.”
Schlachter, the School Committee chair, said she shared those sentiments.
Schlachter said that for high schoolers, this will be the third year in a row school has been disrupted. She said that fortunately, because of the pandemic, systems are in place to teach students remotely and ensure they don’t miss school. But that’s not what many want right now, she added.
“They’ve been through a lot and this was a year we were excited about,” she said. “I feel bad those kids won’t have that Wednesday.”
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.