The campus of Burlington’s high school and technical center will remain closed to students, faculty and staff for the remainder of the semester, superintendent Tom Flanagan announced late Wednesday evening. All learning will remain remote for the high school, and the district is at work finding spaces for in-person learning for technical center students.
The closure is unrelated to Covid-19, according to the district. Officials announced last week that Burlington High would need to go remote until at least Sept. 21 after air quality tests showed elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a probable carcinogen.
The chemicals were detected at levels below EPA guidelines of 500 nanograms per meter, but well above the 15 nanograms per meter recommended by the Vermont Department of Health. Flanagan said Wednesday state health officials made a “strong recommendation” that students and employees not return to the campus without further testing and abatement, which EPA officials concurred with.
“I know this news must come as a shock to many of you, and I know that many students are likely very disappointed to once again be missing out on so many in-person connections,” Flanagan wrote in a message to parents and staff. “I want to assure you that we will work as fast and as hard as we can to get students back into our buildings as soon as we can.”
But Flanagan warned that mitigation measures would be expensive and time-consuming. A best-case scenario at the high school would see the process wrap up in four months, he said.
“For BTC, we expect the process to last significantly longer, which is why we are working to identify alternative spaces for these hands-on programs,” Flanagan said.
There was one spot of good news. Flanagan said testing in the high school’s kitchen and cafeteria came in under the state’s allowable limit, and were deemed safe enough by health authorities to continue being used for food preparation.
The testing was conducted in the high school and technical center’s facilities as part of the district’s $70 million “ReEnvisioning Project” renovation. Air quality reports are available on the school district’s website.
PCBs are man-made chemicals that were widely used in building materials before the Environmental Protection Agency banned their manufacture in 1979, according to the Vermont Health Department. Studies have shown the chemicals cause cancer in animals, state public health authorities say, and can also impact the immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems.
