Remediation Work Done at Milan’s Paddock Elementary School

Just before the start of school, Milan Area Schools ran into something that some other school districts, such as Saline, had to deal with as well late this summer and that’s mold. The hot and humid days of summer led to a couple of areas needing remediation work at Paddock Elementary School.

Milan Superintendent Ryan McMahon updated the school board and community on the situation in Paddock at the August 27 Board of Education meeting.

McMahon said remediation work was needed in August, but they did not have to cancel any school days. He said Milan wasn’t alone with this issue due to the summer heat conditions that got mixed in with spaces that are mostly unused over the summer months. However, one unique detail for Milan was the power outage for 3-4 hours on July 29; this also helped lead to the problem.

He said with the outage the district’s network went down for 26 hours which led to the HVAC system also being down. After the two areas were identified in Paddock, McMahon said they hired a company to test them. It took a week to get the results. It also came back that the HVAC system might need cleaning as well.

So they remediated the entire building and followed that up with even more testing. It was all clear and the building was ready for school, according to McMahon, who said the building is in good shape.

The district ended up testing all of the other buildings as well and they all came back clear. McMahon said they have also addressed the HVAC system and he believes they will have any humidity challenges now under control.

He thanked the staff who helped during this process and for their flexibility. He also thanked families for their support and understanding.

McMahon said it was a hard and expensive process, but it was the right thing to do.

School board president Andrew Cislo agreed and also thanked staff and families for their support and cooperation. He said taking quick action and not waiting was the right decision.