Coleytown M.S. to remain closed for rest of school year due to mold

<p>The Westport Board of Education has voted to keep Coleytown Middle School students at Bedford Middle School and Staples High School for the rest of the school year due to mold.</p>

News 12 Staff

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Oct 16, 2018, 4:52 PM

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Updated 2,012 days ago

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The Westport Board of Education has voted to keep Coleytown Middle School students at Bedford Middle School and Staples High School for the rest of the school year due to mold.

The school was shut down last month and and environmental testing has been underway since.

The preliminary findings were discussed at that Board of Education meeting Monday night.

It was determined that there are several architectural issues with the school, more than the board had anticipated, that are causing water seepage issues.

Because of that, Superintendent Colleen Palmer says there's no choice but to keep Coleytown students at Bedford and Staples for the rest of the school year.

Superintendent Palmer says that this plan allows remediation of the building to start much sooner, so it can hopefully open next school year.

She says there will be more testing done and that architects will have a better idea just how much work the building needs by November.

In the meantime, the focus is to better accommodate both the displaced Coleytown students and the Bedford and Staples students so their learning isn't disrupted.

The board also voted to add six portable classrooms to Bedford Middle School, but that's at least an eight-week process.

The superintendent says new class schedules should be in place by Monday.