Students are returning to the classroom in the Norwin School District on Wednesday morning, but those returning to the high school will have to contend with ongoing mold remediation.

As back-to-school is in the air across our region, so is the threat of mold in several of the buildings and facilities across the district.

At Monday night's school board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Natalie McCracken gave an update on the mold problem, which is being remediated by the restoration contracting firm Belfor.

Dr. McCracken said that all the elementary schools, including the one with mold at Sheridan Terrace Elementary, have been cleared. She said while they are still cleaning areas like the library in the high school, the school is safe for faculty, staff and students to return.

"I wanted to express my appreciation to our maintenance and facilities department and its leadership, as well as to our administrators and employees that have been impacted prior to the start of the year. The team effort to remediate and be prepared for our students to return on Wednesday has been tremendous," Dr. McCracken said.

Dr. McCracken also touched on the mold problem at their football stadium, which she says has been plaguing the stadium for years due to water infiltration and structural deficiencies.

Mold was detected last week in a bathroom of the grandstand, as well as in the press box and storage areas of the stadium.

Austin Hladek just graduated from Norwin, and he says he has been training for college track in that field over the summer.

"I mean, that's kind of disgusting to know we are breathing that in. I mean, that's horrible for your body," he said.

Hladek went on to say that he was happy the school was taking charge and cleaning up the stadium. 

While the stands with the mold will remain closed while a remediation plan is put in place, it is important to note that the stadium is slated for demolition at the end of this football season to make way for a new stadium to be built.