Dear Students, Staff, Parents and The Hopatcong Community,

First and foremost, I am thrilled to welcome our students and staff back for our first official day of school. As I am sure you are all aware, we started this school year a little later than anticipated as the district has spent the last few weeks battling adversity in the form of mold. Although Dr. Mullane, our acting Superintendent of Schools, has provided our community with periodic updates on the district’s progress over the last few weeks, I wanted to provide you with a timeline of events, what action was taken and why.

On August 22nd mold was found on a chair at Tulsa Trail Elementary School. A test sample was immediately taken and it was indeed confirmed to be mold on August 23rd. Over the next few days the district noticed mold to be spreading throughout multiple classrooms and the library at Tulsa Trail, and it was also reported to be found in a few classrooms at Hudson Maxim Elementary School. By August 28th, the district closed both buildings and brought in a mold remediation company known as ServPro. Test samples were immediately taken throughout both buildings and as those samples were being analyzed, and as the district was beginning to put together a plan in both buildings, the district found mold to also be present throughout Durban Avenue Elementary School, The Middle School and The High School. By September 4th, those buildings were also closed and test sampling was underway in each of those buildings. By September 7th it was clear that all five school buildings had varying degrees of mold infestation and the district, in cahoots with ServPro, started a massive operation with hundreds of personnel to clean and rid the entire district of mold for the next 72 hours. By September 11th, as a matter of caution and due-diligence, each room in each building was re-tested. By September 16th, all buildings were cleared as mold remediation was successfully completed with no additional bioremediation activities to be warranted. The district then placed air scrubbers throughout the buildings to reduce the residual airborne sport count, again as a matter of caution and due-diligence, and a walk-through was completed in each room in each building to ensure the operation was successful. Yesterday the district successfully held an in-service day for our staff and the district is now safe and prepared for a successful first day of school.

Although I am sure some of our students did not mind an extended summer, I understand the difficulties and frustration that this situation has caused for some of our parents. This matter was not taken lightly by the district as every decision that was made in this process was done with the safety of our students and staff as our first priority. Certainly, the district acted to rectify this issue as quickly as possible to ensure minimal impact on the district’s overall calendar. However, the district also acted conservatively to ensure we understood the situation, how to approach it and ultimately how to resolve it correctly and thoroughly for the safety and well-being of our students and staff. As I am sure you can imagine, any situation dealing with mold is fluid and often unpredictable. The district provided multiple updates to our school community throughout this process to keep our community aware of our progress and timelines.

This matter is now resolved and I am very proud and thankful of how our community came together, again, while facing adversity. Throughout this process the district has received many, many phone calls and e-mails from students, parents, teaching staff, alumni, elected officials, businesses and neighboring school districts offering support and materials. I am also proud of our staff, particularly our administration and facilities staff, for how they’ve handled this situation and their commitment to ensuring student safety. I’d also like to thank ServPro and our testing facilities for their hard work as well. The district will now focus on the school calendar and we hope to have an update for our community regarding the calendar as soon as next week.

Thank you for your patience, support and understanding during this process. On behalf of The Hopatcong Board of Education, we welcome our students and staff back for yet another successful school year at Hopatcong Borough Schools.

Go Chiefs!

Sincerely,

Anthony J. Fasano IV
President, Hopatcong Board of Education
Learning Today. Leading Tomorrow.