RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Parents are still waiting for mold test results at Barack Obama Elementary School as the start of the school year is delayed.
Richmond Public Schools announced Wednesday that HVAC problems led to mold and air-quality concerns in parts of the building.
Parent volunteers spent the weekend cleaning up outside Barack Obama Elementary, a tradition for the last few years, trying to get ready for a delayed start as mold and rodent concerns keep families wondering what is still going on inside.
“I will burn every bridge out there if it if that’s what it takes to get my kids a safe environment to go to school in. Like, the number one goal is my kids and the kids of all of the families in this neighborhood. We’re all friends. We’re a very tight community,” Jason Farneth, who has two children at the school, said. “We just want a safe environment for our kids.”
Many parents have been stepping up to fill the needs where they can.
Farneth and other parents said the school’s leadership is doing what they can to support. Now, they say it’s up to the district to step up.
Since an open house was held outside on Thursday to inform parents of rodent, HVAC and mold problems, parents said it has been worrisome.
Desarae Wisnoski has two children who currently attend the school and a third who has since moved on to middle school.
Wisnoski said the lack of communication makes her wonder how long the issues have gone unchecked.
“Even specifically, two of my children last year, I had one who’d never had health issues, who I felt like was constantly in and out of the doctor last year, wound up on nasal sprays and allergy medicine and antihistamines and they couldn’t figure out quite what the issue was. And now looking back retrospect for like, was it the mold in the school that was the issue?” Wisnoski said.
A 2024 report showed a small amount of unsafe mold at the school, which the district says was handled.
On Thursday, 12 On Your Side reported that minutes from a recent Facilities and Vacant Property Committee meeting show the air conditioning at Barack Obama Elementary School was functioning at 50 percent capacity since May.
Parents learned of the problem from a whistleblower on Wednesday.
“Had we not made an uproar on Wednesday, we would have been in that building on Thursday, and it took us really coming out hard for that to be stopped and testing to be done,” Wisnoski said.
She and many other parents said they want accountability from the district.
“Where did this go wrong? How did we get here? How did it get this bad?” Wisnoski said. “What is the true plan to fix the issues that are in this school for health and safety for our children, administration and staff?”
The school has brought in professional contractors to clean the building, including the HVAC ductwork, changing air filters and remediating the mold.
Thursday’s air quality test came back with elevated levels of mold spores, so another round of cleaning happened the next day.
Another round of testing is set to follow on Saturday, Aug. 22.
Parents said this is not enough. They want continuous testing and more money invested in the building.
Nick Bacon has two children at the school, a second grader and a kid entering kindergarten.
Bacon said the HVAC system broke in May, during the last week of the previous school year, causing classroom temperatures to reach 80 to 85 degrees.
“When an HVAC unit breaks, dehumidification stops, and mold appears,” Bacon said. “Everybody knows that. And they’ve known about this for at least that long.”
“As a parent, that’s incredibly frustrating. And when I look around, and I see the teachers and staff who are putting in so much of their own effort to get this place running...they deserve more from central office,” Bacon said.
Parents want a formal response plan from the district.
“We want to know that they are aware of these issues and that they’re going to get fixed immediately,” Bacon said. “We think that their communication has been very poor.”
The plan is for students to return to school on Tuesday. If test results continue to show elevated levels of mold, it will push the start date back while crews clean.
12 On Your Side reached out to RPS for a comment and update on Saturday’s testing results. No one has responded.