LOWER ALSACE — The Antietam School District is working to determine the cause of mold growth that delayed the start of the school year for elementary students.
Four modular units, which house kindergarten through third-grade students, are situated on the athletic fields of the former middle-senior high school in Lower Alsace Township. For a second year, the district is using the units as classrooms as it builds a new Stony Creek Elementary School nearby.
Mold was found on the edges of wooden tables, the fabric of chairs, and assortments of paper in classrooms in one of the units. All of the units were cleaned and equipped with dehumidifiers, according to district Superintendent Tim Matlack.
A restoration company also removed ceiling tiles and moldy items, and tested the rooms.
In total, the work cost Antietam $79,896, Matlack said.
He said the administration is working with the modular unit company and contractors to ensure the incident is a “one-time event.” In an email, he said they are exploring whether the air-conditioning units “were pulling more outside air than we wanted given how humid the weather had been at that point.”
“We’ve informed all staff about the ideal settings for thermostats that should be maintained and have installed dehumidifiers in all spaces as a precaution,” he said.
Mold is the latest challenge for the small, suburban school district as it prepares to construct a $30 million elementary school along Antietam Creek.
In July 2023, Antietam’s middle-senior high school was destroyed by a deluge that dumped eight inches of rain in just a few hours. The water barreled down Antietam Creek, breached newly constructed creekbed walls, and rushed through the school’s gymnasium doors.
The destruction wreaked havoc on the tight-knit community as school administrators and residents grappled with finding alternative spaces to educate students and figuring out how to move forward. Antietam officials ultimately decided to build a new elementary school at the location, making modifications to the design and layout to ensure it is not in a flood zone.
This summer, the damaged middle-senior school building was demolished. The discovery of the mold now has some residents concerned that the demolition may have caused particles to go airborne and contaminate the modular units.
Matlack said none of the companies Antietam used to test and remediate the mold suggested the demolished building caused the mold in the modular units, but “that is not to say I have any level of confidence in either direction, only that it was not raised as a concern.”
The school superintendent said demolition crews did spray water on the materials and into the air as they knocked down the structure.
Matlack said on Sept. 8 that the site is being prepped for construction.
In March 2024, the district’s school board approved a $2.75 million contract for the modular classrooms for “no more than three years” while the new school is built. Matlack said Antietam may need to extend the units’ use depending on construction progress.