Mold Outbreak at South Brunswick High School

South Brunswick, NJ - At least five classrooms in South Brunswick High School had to be shut down this week due to a mold growth there, Patch has learned.

The five rooms were closed off to students and staff for the past seven days as the district addressed the mold growth. However, as of Friday, students were allowed back into the classrooms. A picture of the mold in one of the rooms is attached.

The mold growth was tracked to a malfunctioning air handler on the high school's roof that controls the climate in eleven rooms, said Acting Superintendent Dr. Gary McCartney, who said he was told about the mold a few days before the school year began.

"We notified our staff and parents immediately. The District immediately brought in certified air quality testing and then hired a certified professional cleaning company that does mold removal," he said.

Some at the school say the mold is growing beyond those five rooms, and that the district is not doing enough to remove it. But Dr. McCartney said the air sampling company found the mold is limited to just those five classrooms.

"After the cleaning, the air sampling company returned to sample again. These air samples were then sent to ... a certified laboratory. The samples yielded the presence of mold in five rooms. Remediation took about seven school days," he said. "Any suggestion that the district is ignoring any issue related to this situation is unfounded and untrue. The district has been very responsive and will continue to be. Nothing is more important than the health of our staff and students."