Locust Grove Middle School

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http://www.orangenews.com/2003/july/17/mold.shtml

Board solves mold dilemma

By Olympia MeolaMedia General News Service

If Locust Grove Middle School does not open by September, its seventh- and eighth-graders will go to Prospect Heights Middle School and the sixth-graders will be sent to Unionville Elementary, the Orange County School Board decided.Plagued with a long spell of rainy weather and a nuisance mold outbreak, construction on the new school has been continually pushed back. The school's contractor recently said it will not finish the job until mid-October, according to Orange County Superintendent Baker.While the School Board is still hoping the project will be complete by the beginning of the school year, the contingency plan serves as a backup. The board voted on the contingency plan at its meeting Wednesday night."The goal of the contingency plan is for the educational disruption to the students to be minimized," said , assistant superintendent.Deciding where to put about 500 displaced students this fall was only one of the headaches caused by the lagging project timeline at the new school, which is located in the quickly growing eastern end of the county.Just as the rash of wet weather added to the delays, an outbreak of a non-toxic mold and its subsequent removal further slowed progress. Though the exact cause of the mold is unclear, school officials have said heavy rain before the roof was put on probably contributed to the problem.The latest testing at the school shows no signs of the mold, Baker has said.The mold outbreak also spawned a legal battle over who will pay the removal tab, which could run as much as $1 million. The School Board and the school's contractor, Avis Construction Co. Inc., filed a motion for judgment last month against the project's insurance company, seeking compensation for losses caused by the mold.The insurance company has so far denied the board's claim.