Students at Monarch School in San Diego will remain at temporary campuses at least through next week after air quality testing found mold at the Barrio Logan school. When the school, which serves youth who are homeless, temporarily closed on Aug. 28, all 170 K-12 students were relocated to nearby schools. Younger students were relocated to Perkins, while older students went to the South County Regional Education Center in National City. The San Diego County Office of Education asked parents to provide permission for the relocation through December in case remediation takes that long. The Monarch School Project (MSP) provided the following updates on the closure: Following thorough analysis, Monarch School Project has identified areas within the building requiring remediation and is actively working with qualified experts and remediation professionals to address these conditions. The health and safety of our students, families, staff and broader community remain our highest priority. We are continuing to work closely with a team of experts and the San Diego County Office of Education to review the building, determine appropriate next steps and develop timelines for remediation and the eventual return to the facility.  Areas of the building will be cleared for access only following the guidance and upon authorization of qualified experts. We understand the uncertainty is difficult for families, and we will continue to share updates as more information becomes available. The San Diego County Office of Education rents the building from MSP for instruction and also provided an update: We have been communicating regularly with parents and families and in an abundance of caution and to reduce the number of permission forms needed during this time, we extended the date range on the permission slips through December. We will remain at Perkins K-8 and the South County Regional Education Center at least through next week, however, SDCOE is actively exploring longer-term solutions that will better meet the needs of our staff members and families. We will not resume operations at the school until our own testing has shown that the facility is safe. In the meantime, we remain focused on ensuring our students and staff have a clean and comfortable environment for teaching and learning. We’re grateful for the understanding and flexibility our school community has shown during this time.  Eighth grader, Eva Gonzalez, said the move has significantly changed her schedule a lot and she now has a longer commute to school. “I ride the bus all the way over there. I have to wake up earlier than I already normally wake up to get to school, and I have to like be fast about it,” she said. Gonzalez said mold has been a concern at Monarch for years. “I feel like I have been exposed to mold because I’ve been here since kindergarten, so I’ve been here for a long, long time. I’ve been, like, around it for like, a minute, so I don’t know why they’re taking action now instead of before, you know?” she said. Parents are also seeking more communication about the situation. Jessica Cortes, Gonzelez’s mother, has three other children who attend the school. “They’re not really giving us a lot of information. And I just said parents could volunteer to help out the situation and sign a waiver for us to help clean the problem,” Cortes said. Cortes said she would be willing to help with the mold remediation herself because of what the school means to her children. “This is their community. This is their safe zone. This is their second home. As long as my kids feel comfortable and safe, I’m willing to volunteer,” Cortes said. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication. ...read more read less