KYLE, Texas — Students and staff returned to a Hays CISD elementary school on Monday, Nov. 13, after crews found mold in more than a dozen classrooms last week.
Hemphill Elementary in Kyle was initially expected to reopen on Thursday, Nov. 9, but a district spokesperson said the new tentative return day was Monday, Nov. 13. A different spokesperson said on Monday that everyone was able to return to campus as expected.
Crews were at work on Wednesday, Nov. 8 trying to get Hemphill Elementary School ready for around 800 staff and students to return. A teacher smelled something funny the previous week.
"We had some complaints in one of the rooms, which is 184, which kind of smelt like mold off and on, so we came out and did an air quality test," Hays CISD spokesperson Tim Savoy said.
Savoy said in addition to room 184, crews discovered mold in more rooms.
"They cut in and started to realize, 'Wait a minute, it’s not just in this wall; it’s in the next room, and in next room,'" Savoy said.
The district hired a professional crew to remove the mold.
"Basically from the ground up, in most places about 2 or 3 feet, they went and cut above where the mold was. Behind this plastic, they are putting up the wall studs. This will be a temporary fix in the classroom," Savoy said.
During Thanksgiving and Christmas break, the district said crews will perform more of a permanent fix to the walls.
Savoy said the district has not had any complaints of anyone getting sick from the mold.
"Not that we are aware of, but we did have our nurse send out information about the type of mold we found. We have RNs still at all our campuses. We asked anybody that feels like they've had symptoms or allergies they cannot identify what's causing it, to reach out to the nurse and we are going to follow up to all the students there," he said.
Crews were expected to finish putting up all the temporary black plastic before students returned. Custodial crews were expected to get the furniture ready, and teachers were expected to come get their classrooms ready.
"We have done the air quality tests after the fact to test it again. That’s come back fine. The is air clear and it's good," Savoy said.