Chávez To Remain Closed for Remainder of Semester

For Immediate Release
Monday, February 11, 2002

The students of Chávez Elementary School will remain at their current host schools for the remainder of the school year, which concludes on June 7, 2002. As a result, the host schools will make the Chávez classes even more a part of the host school's normal operations.

This decision has been made because the timeline for steps required to get into the school would be, at the earliest, April 15th and could easily carry into the month of June. The consultants working with the district on mold remediation have outlined a schedule of testing, reconstruction, further testing and inspections that will run anywhere from 2 and a half to 4 months.

"After meeting last week with the consultants working on air quality and the causal report, it's become apparent that the optimism we held for getting back into the building this school year is not realistic," said Superintendent Art Rainwater. "Students remaining in their current school locations will stabilize their educational environment and, when the times comes, allow for the best possible transition back to Chávez. This will also ensure that sufficient time is given to the reconstruction of and safe return to classrooms at Chávez."

To better integrate Chávez students into their host schools, they will now be included in assemblies, cultural arts programs, and other special school-wide activities at their host schools.

Chávez School has been closed since November 28 when mold was found in multiple locations in the school. Since then the investigation to find and remediate the mold and its causes has continued.

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