Ida-Related Mold Conditions In Hopatcong's Tulsa Trail School Keeps Students Virtual

HOPATCONG, NJ — Students at Hopatcong’s Tulsa Trail School have been attending school remotely over the past week because of a mold issue that cropped up within the building.

The mold condition is connected to heavy rains from the remnants of Ida in early September.

As of Wednesday, the school hasn’t been give the green light to reopen, according to a letter from Hopatcong Borough Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Joseph S. Piccirrillo, posted on the district’s website, because of areas of surface mold still detected during an inspection.

Piccirrillo said the cleaning company was called back to the school for another round of cleaning and the inspector will perform an air test, once surface mold is no longer apparent.

It was on Sept. 15 when Piccirillo first alerted faculty and families of Tulsa Trail of the problem, with mold remediation expected to take up to 10 days, the school unable to open beginning Sept. 16.

“These days will count as school days and approval to move to remote instruction has been given through consultation with the New Jersey Department of Education,” Piccirillo wrote to families.

This past Monday, Piccirrillo initially estimated that the school could possibly have opened on Thursday or Friday, with crews having cleaned the impacted areas over the past weekend.

Though Piccirillo said it might not be possible for the school to reopen by Friday, in his letter on Wednesday, he offered to Tulsa Trail families who need help with child care, that a limited number of those students can go to the high school, participating in their remote instruction from there.

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