School district says Cedarbrook air quality remains 'acceptable'

Cheltenham School District sent an update Thursday warning parents not to be spooked about mold at Cedarbrook Middle School.

The district has been conducting weekly air-quality tests ever since mold was detected, remediated, and resurrected at the middle school this summer and fall.  The most recent test, on Oct. 25, found "acceptable air quality" in Rooms 107, 5C and the Nursing Office. The Main Office and Room 204 had "a slightly elevated mold spore count, marginally above what is considered acceptable," according to a district email.

The district will conduct visual tests of those two areas on Friday, along with new air-quality tests on five additional areas.

The district has been formulating a back-up plan for what to do with Cedarbrook's 700 7th and 8th graders if the mold returns to unacceptably high levels.

Several parents had inquired about a rumor that the district was negotiating to move the students to DeVry University in Plymouth Meeting.  A DeVry representative said Tuesday that the district was seeking another location.

One of the contingency options involves renovating the middle school, 10 rooms at a time, while students still attend the school.  Three other proposals involve building a new middle school, which would take about three years.

If the district proceeds with a new building, students would either be housed in modular structures on the existing campus, transferred to another facility, or placed on a split schedule at the high school, with high school students attending from 7 a.m. to 1:33 p.m. and middle school students from 1:20 to 8:30 p.m.

Many parents at a meeting last month favored razing the building, but the district has yet to act on the proposals.