New London Families,

This evening, an individual working at the Jr/Sr. High school noticed the smell of gas outside the building and immediately reported it to administration. Local emergency personnel responded to investigate, and Alliant Energy was called to complete testing.

The source was identified as a small leak at an exterior gas valve outside the building. The valve was reset and the issue was corrected. As an additional precaution, the building was also checked to ensure there were no concerns inside.

The issue has been fully addressed, and the building is safe for students and staff. School will continue as normal tomorrow.

We appreciate the individual(s) who noticed the concern and reported it right away, as well as our local emergency personnel and Alliant Energy for their quick response.

-Jamie Cranston ... See MoreSee Less

JH/HS Band & Music Room Update

We are happy to share that our JH/HS Band & Music Room has been re-tested and has been cleared for students and staff to return. Following the additional cleaning and mitigation work, air scrubbers were also used throughout the space before re-testing was completed. Thank you to the team members who worked incredibly hard over the past several days to clean, address concerns, and help us get this space ready for our students and staff again.

While we are glad to have this room cleared, our work does not stop here. We are continuing to examine and monitor other areas of the building as we work to maintain safe and healthy learning and working environments throughout New London CSD. We are also continuing to address HVAC repairs and manage humidity and moisture concerns within the JH/HS building. These are issues we will continue to monitor and work through proactively.

Our students and staff deserve to learn and work in healthy environments, and we will continue to take concerns seriously, investigate them, and address them as they arise.

Thank you to everyone who has reached out to offer support, lend a hand with cleanup, or simply check in. We are grateful for the many people who continue to step up for New London.

-Jamie Cranston ... See MoreSee Less

JH/HS Band & Music Room Update

One last update from New London tonight - and this one is a little different from the first-day celebrations we've been sharing today.

As I hate to take away from the positive energy on this thread I want to be transparent with our community on our Music/Band Room in the Jr.Sr. High School. We received environmental testing results today related to an area of our JH/HS building. We have spent the afternoon and evening working through those results, determining next steps, and communicating directly with the staff and families most immediately affected. We also want to make sure our broader New London community has the same information.

Following the recent storm, HVAC issues and increased humidity created moisture concerns in portions of the building. As we monitored those areas, we noticed mold growth in a few locations and immediately began cleaning and mitigation efforts. We also brought in an environmental testing professional to evaluate the affected spaces and collected samples for additional testing.

The results we received today indicate that our band/music room needs additional attention and re-cleaning. The moisture issue in the space has been addressed, and we are continuing to run dehumidifiers and increase fresh-air circulation through our HVAC system. Tomorrow, the room will receive an additional deep cleaning and mitigation.

We have also made the decision to take an additional step: students and staff will not return to the band/music room until the space has been re-tested. In the meantime, band and music classes will continue in the auditorium space.

We recognize that closing a classroom creates an inconvenience, but we would rather take the additional time, complete the additional cleaning and testing, and be confident in the space before returning students and staff to it.

We had a lot to celebrate on our first day today, and we still do. Taking care of our students and staff also means being transparent when something needs our attention and taking the time to address it thoroughly. Thank you to our staff, students, and families for your flexibility and understanding. We will continue to share updates as we receive additional information.

-Jamie Cranston
🖤💛 ... See MoreSee Less