Kennedy High's school year to start on time

West Contra Costa Unified School District said Thursday it's planning for Kennedy High School's school year to start on schedule on August 18. Several backup locations are already under consideration in case the campus itself isn't available.

Jeff Carter, the district's interim associate superintendent of business services, said at a town hall meeting that the district plans to start the school year on time after preliminary soil-vapor tests found the chemical tetrachloroethylene beneath the campus last week.

"The test results will help us determine where we open for the start of school, and some of those possible other school sites for temporary relocation include Contra Costa College, the Craneway Pavilion, some of our other district site location campuses and properties, as well as some other real estate options in our area."

The district closed Kennedy's campus to all staff and students Monday after preliminary tests found the chemical tetrachloroethylene, also known as PCE, beneath the campus.

Carter said indoor and outdoor air sampling began Thursday and continues Friday, with sub-slab vapor sampling set for Saturday. The district says analysis of the results will be ready by Thursday, August 13, or Friday, August 14.

Superintendent Cheryl Cotton said the decision on where students start the year depends entirely on what that testing shows.

"There's a possibility our indoor air testing comes out, and it's great, fantastic, we are right on track," Cotton said. "If we have concerns about those numbers that come back, we can make decisions about using parts of the campus. We can make decisions about finding other places and starting school. School will start. We are also not walking away from this site."

"In the worst case, we may be out of our school the first quarter," she said. "Maybe 60 days would give us an opportunity for mitigation strategies." She said that window would let the district confirm the air is clean and run another round of testing before bringing students back.

Cotton closed the meeting by asking the community itself for help finding a site.

"We are examining lots of different options," Cotton said. "If you are aware of other options, please let us know."

Attendees fill the Richmond Memorial Auditorium for a town hall on PCE contamination at Kennedy High School, Thursday, August 6.

Cotton said the district hopes to identify a specific relocation site and share a plan with families as soon as Friday. The district plans to hold a student summit next week where students can ask questions directly of the agencies involved.

The Richmond (Kennedy) Swim Center remains closed as well. Deputy City Manager Lashanda White said the city has expanded hours at the Richmond Plunge, the city's other pool, to seven days a week as of August 5. The change absorbs displaced swim classes and adds Tuesday and Thursday morning sessions and Sunday hours. She said the city will work with the district on when the swim center itself can reopen, based on the testing data.

Cotton said the district has set up a webpage with ongoing updates on the testing and will continue to share information daily.

As a school community, though, Kennedy isn't considered closed. Principal David Luongo and administrative staff have set up temporary offices at DeJean Middle School. Student orientation is still moving forward at DeJean on its scheduled date, August 11.

"We really want to take a moment to appreciate our students that are here tonight, our family members, our staff, the community at large and all the different support groups that are here," Luongo said.

YOU GET MORE WITH A PAID SUBSCRIPTION

Your subscription enables Grandview Independent to deliver more:

More time devoted to in-depth reporting
Longer, more comprehensive stories
Greater coverage of what matters to our community

Quality journalism costs money. Subscriptions allow us to keep reporting the stories that matter, without paywalls getting in the way of critical community information.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE - Starting at just $10/month

FOLLOW US FOR BREAKING NEWS:
• Twitter: @GrandviewIndy
• Instagram: @GrandviewIndependent
• Facebook: @Grandview Independent