by Joseph Gresser
NEWPORT — North Country Union High School administrators are waiting for test results to decide when and how school will open. Those tests aren’t measures of academic achievement, but measurements of the levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in classrooms.
At a special meeting of the North Country board held on August 7, members decided to maintain in-person classes, but opening day and exactly where classes will be held remains uncertain. At present ninth-graders are scheduled to start school on August 27, followed the next day by their remaining schoolmates
Principal Chris Young told board members that mitigation efforts had been going on in the school’s C-wing throughout the summer and teachers and staff had time to clear their space before those efforts began. He said the work to reduce the presence of PCBs in the atmosphere involved removing window caulking and sealing paint behind an epoxy coating.
In the meantime, the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and consultants decided to test conditions in the B-wing, which houses most classrooms, administrative offices, the library, and cafeteria. The results were much higher than seen before and contractors were brought in to start mitigation work there.
That meant that members of the custodial staff had to move items…
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