20/08/2025
Revised.
Dundee delays school start date by a day, due to mold growth issue
The start of the 2025-2026 school year at Dundee Community Schools has been changed.
The first official day of school was changed to Tuesday, Aug. 26 (from the original start date of Monday, Aug. 25).
The elementary and middle school Open House dates also were changed, to Monday, Aug. 25 (from the original date of Wednesday, Aug. 20).
Superintendent of Schools Scott Leach posted a letter to the community on the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 20, saying that the schedule changes were the result of a maintenance issue that the district was actively addressing in several classrooms in the elementary and middle school buildings.
Some rooms in the two buildings experienced areas of mold growth. According to HVAC technicians, this likely was due to this summer’s unusually humid weather and the way the buildings’ Ventilation Unit Ventilators (VUVs) are designed to bring in fresh air. It is not certain right now why the units did not dehumidify the classrooms.
The issue came to the attention of the school when some spots of mold were seen in some spaces, such as on a carpet.
“Our custodial teams immediately cleaned the areas where mold first appeared,” said Mr. Leach. “However, when the mold returned, we took additional steps to address the problem.”
The district adjusted the VUV dampers to limit the intake of humid outside air, and brought in professional restoration companies to conduct a thorough assessment.
“Their recommendations included placing industrial-sized dehumidifiers in each affected classroom to reduce excess humidity,” said Mr. Leach in the letter. Once humidity levels drop below 50 percent, mold growth will stop, allowing our custodial team to re-clean the classrooms and all affected areas thoroughly.”
Air quality testing also was done, and for the most part, the news was very good.
“The tests showed that all the levels were acceptable,” said Mr. Leach on Wednesday evening.
“They did tests in all the rooms we were concerned about, and all the levels were acceptable— even before our mitigation efforts. They took levels from outside, and then again from the inside— and the air inside was actually better than the air outside,” said Mr. Leach.
Tests to identify the type of mold in question also found no black mold or mold of a problem type found in the classrooms where mold visually was a problem.
However, there was one issue that testing in random areas— areas besides the classrooms that were areas of concern— discovered. There was one classroom in the middle school that has a type of mold that was in a range that it could possibly be some type of black mold, said Mr. Leach. But this classroom in the middle school was not even on the radar of concern, so without the testing it may not have been identified for a while longer.
The problem in that classroom was traced to the roof and gutter system, where one area was repeatedly getting wet.
“We are already working to mitigate that, as well,” said Mr. Leach. The teacher will have class in a different room while the mold situation is being taken care of. There also may be some asbestos tile in there, and we will take care of it. That class will be out of the room for several days.”
Even though the air quality tests came back as acceptable, the district will take further action.
“We still will bring in more dehumidifiers and air scrubbers, just to be safe,” said Mr. Leach.
He added, “Starting school on Tuesday is not a problem.”
“In the meantime, we are following all recommended mitigation steps,” said Mr. Leach.
After the dehumidification process, the plan was to clean all affected classrooms again and conduct additional air quality testing to make sure the spaces are safe for students and staff.
Mr. Leach said, “The health and well-being of our students and staff will always be our top priority. We will continue to keep families updated as results are received and next steps are confirmed. Than you for your patience, support, and trust as we work to resolve this matter promptly and thoroughly.”
