A court agreement finalized Friday allows the shuttered Burlington High School to be demolished in February.
Attorneys for Bayer, parent company of Monsanto, and the school district filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Burlington stating that they have agreed to dates for turning over evidence and inspecting the building.
Judge William Sessions approved the agreement later on Friday.
Bayer had requested in December that the court delay demolition to preserve evidence in two lawsuits over polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, contamination that prompted wholesale shutdown of the high school.
Under the agreement submitted Friday, the school district won’t be able to “alter the buildings” at the high school until Feb. 18. Experts from Bayer would be able to conduct an inspection the week of Feb. 13. The school district is expected to turn over a batch of documents on Monday requested by Bayer.
“The parties recognize and affirm that time is of the essence for BSD’s construction project,” attorneys wrote in the motion.
Though the school district has a pending lawsuit against Monsanto related to contamination of the high school by PCBs, the motion that halted the planned demolition of the school was actually filed in a separate personal injury case brought by former educators at the school.
The school district had hoped to begin demolition of the Institute Road campus this month. Removal of existing school buildings is part of a $190 million construction project to build a new high school. Burlington voters approved plans to borrow up to $165 million to help pay for the project.
The school district filed a lawsuit last month that alleges Monsanto knew of the dangers of PCBs when they were used in buildings at Burlington High School. The district is seeking to have Monsanto pay for the costs to remove the contaminated buildings and to build new ones.
The former educators filed their own suit in October and allege the PCB contamination at the school caused a variety of health problems.
Provisional court hearings are scheduled for early February “in the event the parties reach an impasse,” Friday’s motion said.