SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Students from the Monarch School in Barrio Logan have been temporarily relocated after possible mold concerns popped up on its campus.
“So as soon as we even thought that there was something happening with our air quality, we acted swiftly and decisively to make sure that we are doing abundance of care to make sure that our campus is safe for all of the people that we serve,” said Tamara Craver, the president and CEO of Monarch School.
Craver told ABC 10News the suspicion of mold popped up on Thursday night; the pivot to temporarily close the building and relocate the students to different schools was made on Friday.
“The air quality testing is based around there was a suspicion of mold,” Craver said. “Testing was completed on Friday, and we will get results back in the next couple of days, and so we can't make any decisions until we have those expert decisions back, and then we'll go from there.”
Craver told ABC 10News that all of the services that they offer to their students and families here on campus haven’t been interrupted with this temporary relocation as they await the test results with this possible mold concern.
Monarch students in kindergarten through 5th grade are temporarily taking classes at Perkins K-8, while students 6th grade through 12th grade are taking their classes at South County Regional Education Center in National City.
Monarch School educates homeless students, and it also provides wraparound services for them and their families on the journey in and out of homelessness.
“There are absolutely no programs being impacted by the relocation of our students. All therapy sessions are still being held,” Craver said. “All support systems for housing, food insecurity, housing insecurity, anything that our families and students need, we have met every single need of our parents and our families and our students, so nothing is being impacted on the services that we're providing.”
Craver said the school’s been in constant communication with the San Diego County Office of Education during the temporary relocation of the students this week.
She added she isn’t able to say how long the closure will last at this time since they have to wait for the test results and the following recommendations.
“It's very upsetting that we're in this position because, you know, we don't want anything to happen to our students or our families, and this is a safe space,” Craver said. “We want to have everything here under one roof for them, so it is of utmost importance that we get this done swiftly and safely.”
