Students ready to start first full week back at Sierra House Elementary

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Students and staff at Sierra House Elementary are starting their first full week back in their school Monday. All students in grades K-5 are getting settled in.

"It is so good to be back!" said Principal Karin Holmes. "The kids are doing great and the staff is so happy to be back in their classrooms. We are getting organized and enjoying being home. Our staff and students did not miss a beat in the transition back to Sierra House."

The school's annual Walkathon fundraiser is Friday, October 11.

Construction crews have left and final air quality tests were done at the school which was closed much of the last eleven months after a November 2018 fire.

Environmental samples were collected from the school at the conclusion of each phase and at the conclusion of the project. The results reveal that all concerned environmental hazards were "non-detect" and/or below regulatory standards.

Nate Seward of Premier Environmental Testing in Incline Village conducted the tests at the request of Dr. James Tarwater, superintendent of Lake Tahoe Unified School District.

The following is a portion of the letter to Tarwater from Premier:

Combustion By-Products (i.e. soot, ash, char) – Air samples were collected in various portions of the school including the upper pod, lower pod, MRP/hallway and admin areas of the school. In our opinion, the results indicated ash/soot and char particulates were within a background or normal concentrations. These results were taken in mid-August 2019 during major construction activities.

Carbon monoxide & Ozone – These air quality constituents were also checked in September 2019 as potential, yet unlikely, byproducts from the fire. The subject site was still in the process of reconstructing activities (i.e. flooring, painting, insulation, etc.) in many areas that had been demolished/renovated as a result from the fire in late 2018 including the upper pod classrooms, MPR/hallway and administrative areas. A handheld ozone and carbon monoxide meter were used and sampling was performed within all of these construction areas and additionally in the lower pod classrooms and in all Portables 1-7. The readings from the Carbon monoxide meter were 0ppm with no indication of carbon monoxide present within the areas tested. The ozone concentrations throughout the school ranged between 0 – 0.01ppm. These results are not surprising as these constituents are generally found immediately after a fire and the school has had major construction activities ongoing for at least 8 months not to mention aggressive air flushing performed has been performed. No concerns were related to these findings.

Asbestos – Air and surface asbestos samples were collected before and after the asbestos abatement process had occurred. The abatement was performed in various locations with clearance sampling performed using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) in accordance with AHERA regulations. No concerns were noted regarding the asbestos abatement activities.

Mold Sampling - As a precautionary measure, PEC collected non-viable mold samples within the property to determine the mold concentrations. The samples were forwarded to a certified Laboratory for non-viable analysis. An outside sample was taken as an example and there were 1789 total spores (spores per cubic meter). Tests in portables 1, 3, 5 showed trace spores (27 sp/m3) while portables 2, 4, 6 had more, but at much smaller concentrations as outside. The outside baseline sample (which is used to compare to the inside samples) was within normal fungal mycology for outdoor environments. All other air samples looked to be within
background. Based on the findings from our assessment, it is our opinion that mold
concentrations were within background and do not suggest remediation is warranted.

Overall Conclusions – Thorough and detailed remediation and abatement activities have been performed by Belfor throughout this project as it relates to the damage caused by the original fire. Precautionary measures (containment, decontamination chambers, HEPA air scrubbers, critical barriers, etc.) were also taken throughout the reconstruction of the project to eliminate cross-contamination of environmental and/or construction debris to other parts of the school.

Environmental monitoring and clearance sampling was performed throughout the project to ensure the remediation efforts were completed in accordance with industry standards and procedures. Environmental samples were collected at the conclusion of each phase and at the conclusion of the project with the results revealing that all concerned environmental hazards were non-detect and/or below regulatory standards.