W. Penn school to open Monday

West Penn Elementary school students and faculty members will be back in familiar surroundings starting Monday.

The school had remained closed for the first two weeks of the school year after a summer of heavy rainfall had caused mold problems in a number of its classrooms. The mold was discovered by returning teachers who were preparing their classrooms for the coming school year.

Although the district had initially been advised that it may be able to handle the situation on its own, the administration and school board took a better-safe-than-sorry approach and hired an engineering firm and professional mold remediation professionals to rectify the situation.

“We want our parents and community to believe that we will go the extra mile as opposed to doing less. We believe it was handled in the best way possible based on the available information at the time,” said Superintendent Ray Kinder.

In a letter announcing the reopening of the school, which was posted to the district’s website, Kinder thanked the students, families and staff for their support throughout the process.

West Penn students will be on a two-hour delay on Monday to allow faculty and staff to prepare the building and classrooms for the reopening.

The two-hour delay is for West Penn students only. All other buildings will operate on their normal schedule.