Mold closes a second Richmond elementary school
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Another RPS elementary school has closed due to mold.
Why it matters: Mold problems have now closed two city schools and disrupted a third, keeping hundreds of kids out of classrooms during the first weeks of the school year.
State of play: Bellevue Elementary will be closed until the day after Labor Day so the district can complete a "full-scale remediation" at the 114-year-old Church Hill school, Richmond Public Schools said Monday.
- After mold was found inside four classrooms last week, the rooms were sealed and cleaned, but the district says it's now treating the entire building "out of an abundance of caution."
- Like their Obama Elementary counterparts, Bellevue students can attend an Educare program while the school is closed; this one is at Lucks Field Community Center.
- Suspected mold was also found at McClenney Elementary last week. Remediation has been completed and all rooms have reopened there.
Context: RPS has long grappled with the maintenance needs of its very old schools.
- More than half of city schools are more than 50 years old. A dozen are over a century old, per WRIC.
Meanwhile, mold remediation is complete at Obama, and students will return Thursday, per RPS.
- It'll be their first day of the school year — more than a week and a half after the rest of the district started.
Yes, but: Some Obama students may not return.
- Last week, 38 students — or about 13% of Obama's enrollment — applied to transfer to McClenney or Overby-Sheppard elementary schools after RPS offered families the option because of the delayed start.
- Just 21 received seats, based on availability, per data RPS shared with Axios.
- All applicants in grades 2-4 were accepted. Demand exceeded open seats in the other grades so the district used a lottery, RPS spokesperson Kylie Brown tells Axios.
Between the lines: The application process for RPS elementary schools can be competitive.
- For this school year, the district received more than 1,500 applications for 389 open elementary school seats.
What we're watching: Whether city voters approve a 1% school sales tax referendum in November to fund school construction.