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McGee Middle School in Berlin has been closed for three days due to poor air quality.
Berlin Students Return to Class After Air Problems
Classrooms like this one were checked out by health experts before students are allowed to return to class.
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After days of being off-limits, the halls of McGee Middle School are finally open to parents and students. On Wednesday, they walked through the building, gathered their belongings and checked out the school. On Thursday, classes will be back in session.
"You're dealing with people's health. And when it's your kids you want to make sure they're taking the right precautions and not having school is probably the best thing they could have done," said Jim Bednarek, who has a child in the school.
The school was shut down last week after construction fumes sent one teacher to the hospital. Health experts were called in and tested the building for any toxic substances. The tests say it is safe for students to return, but parents still have concerns.
"Would you let a child of yours to attend, in it's current condition?" Chris Bernucca asked during a forum held on Wednesday night.
Many parents took turns at the forum to complain about a bigger air quality problem at McGee, which deals with an outdated HVAC system.
"It's been going in a big way for a long, long time. And the fact that it hasn't been dealt with, it's a catastrophic failure of our town government," said Bob Mayer, of Berlin.
While the town understands parents' concerns, it does say a multimillion dollar renovation of the system will start this summer.
"The fact of the matter is, the money's already appropriated, we're going to begin in June, and quite frankly we're going to take every measure possible to make sure everybody is comfortable until this project is complete," said Berlin Mayor Adam Salina.
The students at McGee Middle School will find out on Monday whether or not they'll have to make up the three days the school was closed. It's up to the Board of Education to decide.
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