FRANKLIN, Ohio -- The hallways at Franklin High School were essentially empty Friday: Students had the day off as crews worked to clean and restore an area of the building afflicted by severe mold.
Teachers reported in early October that they were concerned about the possibility of mold affecting the air quality throughout the high school. A subsequent air quality test revealed that most of the building had a mild to moderate mold score -- but one storage room, located in an area with no ventilation, scored unusually high.
Superintendent Mike Sander said that the mold was never a health risk for students or staff.
"We want to expand our air sampling to make sure there’s no mold, there’s no nothing, that it is really safe,” he said. "To be honest with you, if it wasn’t safe, we would make other arrangements to have school."
But the mold still needed to be treated, so the district called crews to clean the storage room and service the school’s HVAC system Friday.
Sander said the school would continue to clear its air handlers, change HVAC filters and work to ensure that its students and staff remained safe in the future.
