SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — After an 11-day delay, Del Sur Elementary School students finally began their school year Monday morning, temporarily sharing a campus with Stone Ranch Elementary after mold was discovered at their school.
Poway Unified School District discovered moderate mold levels in several rooms at Del Sur Elementary, announcing the findings just one day before school was originally set to start.
More than 900 Del Sur students were moved to Stone Ranch Elementary, bringing the combined campus population to around 1,500 kids.
The first day brought sweet moments — special first-day photos, students reuniting with favorite teachers, and parents offering last-minute pep talks.
However, not everyone arrived feeling at ease.
"I'm feeling really anxious. I think there's just a lot of unknown," Sadie Walton said.
Walton's daughter, Rose, is among the Del Sur students now attending Stone Ranch. Walton said she had some awareness of the situation before the announcement.
"We were aware that there were mold issues. I did not realize that it was such a huge concern," Walton said.
One Stone Ranch parent, Quentin Jammer, said he supports the arrangement.
"As long as the kids are, you know, in the classroom and learning safely, that's all that really matters," Jammer said.
Jammer is also looking at the bright side for his kids — meeting new kids as well as his children getting to be at school with friends from extracurricular activities. Walton's daughter is also excited to meet new kids, but she'll be sad to leave them, whenever that is.
"I don't like that we might make friends there, but then we might go back to Dewser and we can't see them anymore," Rose said.
The two schools are expected to share the Stone Ranch campus for at least a month, until September 21st. Walton said she hopes Del Sur can reopen by the target date, but she is already weighing other options if the mold problem is not resolved.
"We have no problem leaving because we need to make sure that we need to get a good education for. We can't be playing this game the whole time," Walton said.
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