Abrams Primary School closed after mold found in classroom

BESSEMER, Ala. (WBRC) - Abrams Primary School will remain closed until further notice after an environmental expert detected mold in one classroom, Bessemer City Schools Superintendent Michael Turner said.

After images of stained ceiling tiles in a classroom circulated on social media, Turner allowed a tour of the school last week and said there was no mold in the building.

“Is there mold in the building? Absolutely not,” Turner said at the time.

What changed

Turner said a company had told him it was 99% sure it had cleaned all of the mold and that air quality was where it needed to be.

“So what happened between then and now that the primary school has been closed?” Turner said. “Great question. And so the last time we spoke, we were told by a company, which I will not name, that they are 99% sure they got all of the mold and everything cleaned. The air is where the quality of the air is where it needs to be. And so I was operating on what I had been told.”

Turner said an environmental expert was brought in to test the air quality.

“And what they discovered was that every single classroom in every pod, no mold detection with the exception of one classroom,” Turner said. “And they detected a moderate amount of mold. And so once that happened, we were going to err on the side of caution and say until we figure this thing out completely, it’s going to be better served to students returning back to their home schools and providing that quality of education there until we find out obviously what is the origin or what is the issues that are continuing to occur in this one particular classroom.”

After the test results, the district alerted parents the school would be closed until further notice.

Students moving to home schools

The 120 students from Abrams Primary School will return to their home schools on Tuesday, Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day.

• Two classes will return to Hard Elementary
• Two classes will return to Jonesboro
• One class will return to West Hills
• One class will return to Greenwood
• One class will return to Abrams Elementary

Abrams Primary School will remain closed until further notice.

Turner acknowledged the closure has been an inconvenience for parents.

“The moment that we saw stainage, we removed those students and teachers from that classroom,” Turner said. “And so with that being said, I just want to assure parents that we’re going to continue to do what’s in the best interest of our students.”

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