Mold discovery prompts closure at Iredell County elementary school

IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — Coddle Creek Elementary School in Iredell County will close for three days next week after mold was found on furniture, air vents and cubby holes. Students will be on remote learning for two days next week and out of school on Veterans Day.

Iredell-Statesville Schools says it has been working with the county and state health departments since August to conduct multiple rounds of indoor air quality tests at the elementary school near Mooresville. District officials don’t believe there is an “immediate threat to the health and safety of students and staff.”

Parents shared photos from inside the school after they say mold was found on various surfaces around the school.

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The district says the air ducts will be professionally cleaned, a cleaning product will be sprayed in the classrooms, commercial scrubbers will run for several days and HVAC filters will be replaced throughout the building.

Parents told Channel 9’s Dave Faherty they believe the district should have acted sooner.

“Very worried. We’ve got parents who are keeping their kids out of school. We’ve got parents going to their pediatrician,” Molly Springs, a Coddle Creek mother, said. “It was inadequate. They certainly should’ve acted quicker.”

Pilar Caldwell and her husband aren’t taking any chances to remove their child from the school before the remediation.

“The environment isn’t safe,” Caldwell said. “We’ve seen the pictures. There are children who are sick. Mold is serious.”

The district plans to conduct another round of testing after the remediation on Wednesday, but it may take another week before they have the results.

A representative from the district said it’s to keep the building empty during cleaning.

Some parents said they plan to talk about the this at the next school board meeting on Nov. 16.

Iredell County Health Department officials said they did not recommend or require the school to close. They also did not direct the district to do more cleaning.

Some symptoms if someone’s been exposed to mold are: