KENOSHA, Wis. — Bullen Middle School will be closed Friday, Sept. 4, after staff discovered mold inside the building Thursday, marking the second mold-related disruption at a Kenosha Unified School District building in just days. Bullen Principal Matthew St. Martin notified families and staff Thursday evening that mold had been discovered in the building earlier in the day. According to the notice, KUSD’s Facilities Department contacted Environmental Management Consulting, Inc. to perform what the district described as a comprehensive visual assessment.
Following that assessment, professional remediation was recommended. “School will be canceled tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 4, while this work takes place,” St. Martin wrote. “Crews will seal affected areas, clean surfaces, and operate air scrubbers as part of the process.” The latest discovery comes only days after mold remediation disrupted the opening of Reuther Central High School and Harborside Academy, which share a building in downtown Kenosha. As Kenosha County Eye reported Tuesday, students at those schools had their first day delayed after professional remediation that began Aug. 19 took longer than district officials initially anticipated. Staff had also been prevented from safely entering the building to prepare classrooms while the work continued.
At Reuther and Harborside, KUSD also hired Environmental Management Consulting, Inc. after mold was discovered. Crews there sealed affected areas, cleaned surfaces and operated air scrubbers, the same remediation measures now being described by the district at Bullen. The Bullen closure is intended to allow crews to complete the work before students and staff are scheduled to return Tuesday, Sept. 8, following the Labor Day weekend.
The district’s Thursday communication did not specify where inside Bullen the mold was discovered, how extensive the affected areas are, what type of mold was found, how long it may have been present or what moisture source caused the growth. KUSD told families that mold spores are naturally present in the environment and can enter buildings through doors, windows and HVAC systems. The district acknowledged that mold can grow indoors when moisture is present and said identifying and correcting the moisture source is an important part of remediation.
“The health, safety and well-being of our students and staff is our top priority,” St. Martin wrote. The back-to-back discoveries raise additional questions about the condition of KUSD buildings and whether mold or moisture problems may exist elsewhere in the district. At Reuther and Harborside, KUSD said follow-up testing would be conducted to determine whether remediation was successful and that the building would continue to be monitored throughout the school year.
Bullen families were similarly told Thursday that the district would provide additional information when updated test results become available.
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