A Hartford school will remain closed after air quality testing detected levels of harmful chemicals in the air over winter break. Concerned parents met with school and district leaders Saturday to find out what happens next.
School officials made the decision to close J.C. Clark Jr. Elementary School as they search for the source of contamination after discovering traces of the chemical PCB in the school after the installation of a new sprinkler.
"I freaked out for my kids health and my daughter actually had a physical yesterday and I told them to test her for it," parent Gloribee Gonzalez said. "If it comes back positive I'll have to bring back the other two. They say it wasn't a big concern, but it was a big concern to me because I didn't know what PBC was."
PCBs are chemical compounds thought to be linked to a higher cancer risk. Recent air quality tests conducted after the sprinkler was installed revealed higher levels of PCBs in the air than are recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency, Hartford Superintendent Beth Sharvino Narvaez said.
At the meeting, she addressed plans for continuing classes in other buildings as school officials work to resolve the issue. She said that school officials decided it would be "too disruptive" to have the investigation into the source of the chemical issue going on while students were in class.
"When you find PCBs above the recommended level, you need to limit the exposure," she said at the meeting.
Students in pre-kindergarten through third grade will temporarily take classes at the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) Museum Academy in Bloomfield and students in fourth to eighth grade will relocate to the Journalism and Media Academy Magnet School in Hartford for the time being. Two ABA classrooms will move to the Simpson Waverly School for now.
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Buses will run as they usually do to take students to the temporary locations.
It's still unclear when the school will reopen and how long it will take officials to find the source of the PCBs.
