Brick High School Classrooms Cleared For Use After Mold Issue

BRICK, NJ — Brick Township High School students and staff will be able to resume using five classrooms that were shut down on Monday due to surface mold found in one after follow-up testing found the rooms had safe air quality.

In a letter posted on the district's website, officials said the five classrooms that were shut down in one section of the building were cleaned and tested after surface mold was found in one classroom in the section.

School is closed Wednesday for Yom Kippur but the classrooms can resume being used on Thursday.

Richard Lynch of Environmental Safety Management Corp. sent district officials a report late Tuesday on the follow-up testing, which was conducted in the closed classrooms and additionally in randomly selected rooms elsewhere in the building.

Those test results found

• Indoor air levels of mold spores in all areas tested were substantially lower than outdoor levels comprised of a subset of outdoor mold types and considered normal;
• No mold hazard is indicated;
• Airborne mold levels were normal in all areas tested.

The room where the surface mold was found on Monday appears to have been a biology classroom, as Lynch's report specified steps to take involving care of a skeleton. The recommendations included:

• Routine cleaning regimens for skeletons and organ models with manufacturer recommended cleaning products, both during the school year, as well as at the end of the year prior to summer, to reduce any dust, oil and skin cells from human hands or other contaminants.
• Air handling unit fresh air dampers throughout the school should be adjusted to minimize outdoor air introduction until a break in the high outdoor humidity that we are experiencing occurs. Review these settings with Jersey State Controls to ensure adequate thermal and humidity control.
• Custodians should continue regular dust removal until weather has returned to normal.

Lynch's report also said the excessive humidity that continues to plague the area and that played a significant role in mold issues in two other district schools caused the issue at the high school.

Surface mold was found in seven classrooms at Emma Havens Young Elementary School less than two weeks before school was to start, and then at Lake Riviera Middle School in six classrooms the following week. In both cases, Lynch said the primary contributor to the mold was the excessive humidity that has plagued the area most of the last 8 weeks.

Mold issues have plagued other schools in the state; Lakehurst Elementary School is closed until mid-November due to extensive mold. Manchester Township schools have made room for classes for Lakehurst students.

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