WALES – Wales Central School is postponing the first day of school so workers can rip up and replace moldy classroom carpets.

School was expected to start next Wednesday. It will now open on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

At least eight area schools are scrambling to clean up carpets and clear out mold after weeks of warm, wet, humid weather. For most, the problem started when workers shampooed carpets during the span of warm, wet weather. The flooring never dried completely and began to mildew in the humidity.

In Union 44, workers discovered mold in more than a half dozen classrooms after leaving the rugs for the weekend.

“We’ve never faced this issue before,” said Superintendent Paul Malinski.

Workers are now ripping out the moldy flooring and replacing it with new carpeting. But with just one full-time custodian and one part-time custodian, Malinski said, it will take time for the work to be completed.

School officials decided Wednesday morning to delay the start of school to give workers a chance to put in the new flooring and allow teachers time to set up their classrooms.

Only Wales Central School’s 150 students will be affected by the delay. Other Union 44 students, including high-schoolers, will start on Aug. 27 as scheduled.

Officials don’t yet know how the Wales students will make up the three school days they will miss.

“That will be dependent on snow days. But I suspect we will make it up at the end (of the year),” Malinski said.

One nonessential multi-purpose room won’t be re-carpeted until the second week of September. The school system won’t know until then how much the mold problem will cost.

But Malinski said the carpet replacement will be “expensive.”

ltice@sunjournal.com

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