McClymonds HS Students Resuming Classes At 3 Other Oakland Schools
OAKLAND (CBS SF) – Oakland Unified School District officials said Monday that McClymonds High School students will be separated and resume classes Tuesday at three schools after they were displaced from their school by a carcinogen in the groundwater under the school.
Ninth-graders and Mr. Heath's ninth- through 12th-grade classes will meet from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Ralph J. Bunch Academy at 1240 18th St.
Tenth- and 11th-graders are scheduled to attend classes from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at West Oakland Middle School at 991 14th St. Tenth-graders will take classes in the H Building and 11th-graders in the A Building, district officials said.
Twelfth-grade students along with Ms. Tolbert's and Ms. Calloway's ninth- through 12th-grade classes will attend school from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Westlake Middle School/MetWest Ericka Huggins campus at 2629 Harrison St.
About 350 students attend McClymonds High School.
School district officials said Monday morning they hope to reopen McClymonds High School next week following its closure Thursday, Friday and Monday due to concerns of a toxic chemical in its air and groundwater.
The district closed McClymonds after the carcinogenic chemical compound trichloroethylene was found in the campus' groundwater with the concern that it could have evaporated into its air. The school's drinking water was unaffected, according to district officials.
State environmental health officials swarmed the school over the weekend to conduct air testing at roughly 50 locations around the campus, including every classroom. Final sampling results are expected later this week.
"We trust this data, but we view it as screening data," California Department of Toxic Substances Control engineer Cheryl Prowell said. "We really want to see the data from the analytical laboratory before we say with certainty, because the analytical laboratory is a certified method ... We don't have the same level of scrutiny on this field screening method."
More testing will be done Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Results of those tests are expected to go to the Department of Toxic Substances Control next week.
District officials are posting updates regarding the closure at ousd.org/mcclymondstce.
© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
