HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – Families of students that were slated to attend classes at Holland Language Academy will find out on Thursday night just exactly why the youngsters will have to trek to Longfellow School for this coming academic year.
Last month’s excessive heat warning, along with a failure of the HVAC system in the HLA building off of Van Raalte Avenue, led to the development of mold spores. It was discovered about a week later, and it didn’t take long for Dr. Brian Davis, superintendent of Holland Public Schools, to make the call to move all classes to the vacant Longfellow facility off of East 25th Street.
“Our original assessment (of the situation) was that it was going to take several weeks (to clean out the mold),” he explained in an interview on “WHTC Talk of the Town” earlier this week. “As an extra precaution, we will replace the carpet in the building, even though we were told we could remediate it.
“We had another building project that has to be done (at HLA) this school year, a new fire suppression system, and that had to be put on hold, so we’re looking at two weeks, two weeks, two weeks, potentially over a month (of no classes in the building). That’s way too late to start school there and ask people to figure out an alternative solution.”
All district buildings were checked for mold as well, with smaller traces found at Holland Heights and Maplewood schools, but those structures are expected to be cleaned up in time for the start of classes this coming Wednesday.
Tonight’s meeting on the HLA situation is slated for 7 PM in the Performing Arts Center at Holland High School, with Dr. Davis and officials of the firms retained to clean out the mold on hand to discuss matters.
