Students at Barack Obama Elementary School, located in the city’s Northside, will have to start school at least one day late following an air quality test result that showed elevated levels of mold in the building. 

The issue was first raised earlier this week when Superintendent Jason Kamras sent a letter to parents notifying them that administrators found mold growth in the school’s basement and on some furniture after a HVAC outage, impacting the school’s air quality. 

The school district hired contractors to clean the building, change air filters and remediate the mold, while anticipating test results conducted by an independent vendor.

Those results came back positive, meaning that students will start school on Tuesday, Aug. 25 at the earliest, Kamras said. Teachers will use Monday to set up their classrooms. 

“I sincerely apologize for the stress, anxiety, and inconvenience this news may bring to your family,” Kamras wrote to families. “Please know that your students’ health and safety — as well as that of our staff — remains my number one priority, and we will not re-enter the building until we are certain that it is safe to do so.”

Administrators also received reports of rodents in some rooms, Kamras said, and an exterminator was hired to treat those rooms. 

The school held its open house for families on Thursday outside of the building. 

Parents have been aware of the HVAC issue since May, said Mallery Carter-Hicks, president of the school's parent teacher organization. She recalled one kindergarten classroom reaching 82 degrees.

Division administators told her and parents that the system would be repaired once school was out, but they learned this week that "a necessary part was not expected until October."

"That has been very furstrating for parents, especially because we were under the impression that the issue would be addressed over the summer," she said.

The rodent issue is also not new, she added, saying that school Principal Jacqueline Drye had an exterminator come out multiple times when rodents were also discovered in May.

"I even joked (half serious) about getting a school cat to help," Carter-Hicks wrote to The Richmonder.

Nicole Zawitkowski, a new parent to the school whose daughter is getting ready to begin the first grade, said that when she saw Kamras' announcement, she decided to “do a deep dive” into mold and HVAC issues at the school. 

“I discovered that it is definitely not a new issue,” she said.

She pointed to a January 2024 assessment report showing that mold had been present in the school. She also noted that the division had previously proposed upgrading the school’s HVAC system last year, as part of the RPS capital improvement budget. But officials moved the project to be included in the budget for this school year after the division did not receive enough capital improvement funds last year to cover all proposed projects. 

“The absolute root causes have to be identified in order for this to stop being a problem,” she said. 

At a recent Richmond School Board Facilities and Vacant Property Committee meeting, Interim Director of Facilities Harry Chargois told members that the school’s air conditioning was functioning at 50% capacity. At the same committee meeting in June, he said the HVAC system was close to end of life. Three of the six compressors – which are the central components of an HVAC system – were no longer working. The chiller – which helps provide cool air in a building – also needed to be replaced. He recommended renting one, which would cost over $12,000 a month, while a new one would be ordered with an expected delivery date of November or December.

There was no mention made about a mold issue at the meeting. 

He said that his team was working with contractors to ensure that the compressors were functioning at full capacity and address “miscellaneous HVAC and structural issues” at the school. 

“We're hoping it doesn't impact the start of school if we need everything functioning,” he said at the time.

RPS has dealt with long-standing structural school building issues. Around this time last year, photos surfaced of mold visible in the auditorium of Elizabeth Redd Elementary School. Teachers also shared concerns about asbestos exposure at the Southside school. 

Patrick Herrel, the division’s chief operating officer, told the committee that while the facilities team was addressing a variety of “other small issues,” Barack Obama Elementary “is the only one that has the kind of longer term structural issues that we’ve had to work on.” The school was built in 1921.

Zawitowski said she’s aware that administrators are currently running dehumidifiers in the school, and while she’s appreciative of the response and communication, she feels there’s a need for more, including knowing who is conducting the cleaning and what guidelines they are following. 

“I’m certain that they are working really hard to make this work and I’m sure there are financial budget constraints. But this is a really basic bare minimum,” she said.

She further called for regular routine testing throughout the school year.

Carter-Hicks echoed Zawitowski's concerns and heeding. Carter-Hicks, who has two students in the school, said that many kids have allergies, asthma or are immunocompromised.

"We understand that repairs take time, but parents want transparency about the problems, the timeline for fixing them, and most importantly, resassurance that our children will have a safe environment to learn in," she said.

School begins for the rest of the division on Monday, Aug. 24.

Contact Reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin at vifatusin@richmonder.org