Monessen School District provides update on mold found in district's buildings

The school year in Monessen was supposed to start in August, but in-person learning was pushed back to Sept. 8 due to mold problems in several of the district's buildings.

Even as that day came and went, only the district's youngest students returned for in-person learning. Middle and high school students have been learning remotely since the start of the year as work to fix the mold issues in their building continues.

Monessen Superintendent Dr. Robert Motte says he is happy with the progress that has been made.

"For about a week and a half, they've been filtering out the air to get the mold spores filtered out of the building," said Dr. Motte. "A couple of the rooms that they have completely filtered out, and they are good to go. They are positive. So that's the bathrooms. The area that is 'ground zero,' as we call it, they are still filtering that, and they are starting to rip that out and clean the mold. We're hoping by the end of this week, we will know more, but they are definitely in the process. Where the biggest areas were found in the high school, they have that all contained; they are still filtering, and they are working all at the same time."

While Dr. Motte says a lot has been done, he says student and staff safety is paramount, and there is still more remediation work that needs to be completed. 

The lingering question now is, does the district have a timeline of when they might get students back into the building for in-person learning?

"I mean, the worst-case scenario was Thanksgiving, but seeing the progress now, I think it is going to be a lot quicker," Dr. Motte said. "I don't want to give an exact time, but I am hoping by the middle of October, if things go really well."