news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Oak Ridge families still don’t know when they’ll move back into their elementary school, but officials expect it will be this year.

“We’re getting close, though hopefully pretty soon we’ll have a specific date,” said Angelo Kidd, Western Region superintendent. “Our goal is to move back in as soon as we can.”

Kidd dismissed rumors that the school district wants to wait until next year to return students and faculty to the elementary school. He said he hopes to have the school opened this month or in February, reiterating what he told the Guilford County Board of Education last month.

Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green closed the school in June to address indoor air quality concerns. This fall, students and teachers were split up and sent to four locations for classes while work at the school continued.

Oak Ridge Elementary employees and students had complained of illnesses since the building reopened in 2005 after undergoing major renovations and additions.

No group that has inspected the school, including the county health department, has definitively linked anything found at the school to the illnesses reported .

During the summer, school officials brought in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the private consulting firm Turner Building Science and Design to inspect the school. Both groups found mold and dampness while inspecting the school.

The occupational safety agency considers dampness a public health problem that requires remediation.

The Turner group made numerous recommendations to address issues with the school and has overseen the repairs.

But some parents, whose children were ill while in the elementary school, said the district will have to prove that the school is safe before they allow their children to return.

“It blows my mind that educated people can look at this school and all the things that were wrong and still say there was no smoking gun,” Marianne Wiener said.

Wiener pulled her daughter out in 2008 and only returned her to the school district this fall when they knew classes would not be held at Oak Ridge Elementary. Wiener said the district needs to prove the school is safe before she will send her daughter back.

School board member Darlene Garrett represents the Oak Ridge area and said the district must be transparent in its final report on the school to help parents like Wiener feel comfortable. She said that final report from the Turner group may be presented at the Jan. 12 board meeting.

Even after the students and employees return to the school, the issue likely isn’t over. The school board has filed a lawsuit against Lyon Construction , the contractor responsible for the 2005 construction and renovation project and the company’s insurer.

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing@news-record.com