Mold remediation continues at Norwin High School

Crews continued to clean mold at Norwin High School on Monday, and maintenance and custodians helped teachers and staff clean district and personal items in preparation for the first day of school this week, the district superintendent said.

Superintendent Natalie McCracken told the school board Monday a disaster restoration contractor, Belfor, had completed more cleaning at the high school in anticipation of school opening Wednesday.

McCracken told the board last week the mold was aspergillus, which is found indoors and outdoors. Most strains of this mold are harmless, but a few can cause serious illnesses for people with weakened immune systems, according to the Mayo Clinic website.

Because of a mold problem at the high school library caused by a clogged pipe, the library will be closed as work continues in that part of the building. The library will be remodeled to fit the students’ needs, she said.

Workers have removed mold from a room at Sheridan Terrace Elementary School and cleaned the space, finishing the mold remediation at that school, McCracken said. The other elementary schools — Stewartsville, Sunset Valley and Hahntown — were not impacted by a mold problem.

The district last week closed the homeside bleachers at Knights Stadium when the district received a photo of mold in the ladies restroom in the press box area of the stadium’s home grandstand, McCracken said. Mold also was found in the ground-level storage area, where some equipment and uniforms are stored, and that section was sealed off and closed, McCracken said. Information about the mold was shared with the coaches and booster clubs, McCracken said.

Belfor crews started working on remediating the mold at the stadium Friday, McCracken said. The district is anticipating having a remediation plan for the stadium this week.

Norwin is scheduled to play its first home football game against Kiski Area on Aug. 29. The home-side bleachers at the stadium hold signficantly more spectators than the side for the visiting team.

“We don’t anticipate the closure (of homeside bleachers) impacting our ability to host the varsity football game” on Aug. 29, McCracken said.

The home-side bleachers and press box are scheduled to be demolished beginning in November as part of a complete overhaul of the stadium, which is projected to cost about $24.5 million. The work will begin once the 2025 football season is completed and will not be finished until June 2027. The closure will force teams using the stadium and track and field in the spring to play away games for the 2026-27 school year.

The superintendent said the existence of mold at the stadium is not a new problem. There have been water infiltration and structural deficiencies almost since the stadium was built in the 1960s.