Columbia Elementary students moved to Centennial High following mold discovery
Hundreds of Columbia Elementary students were moved out of their school Thursday and will now be at Centennial High school for the rest of the semester until the mold at their school is fully cleaned.
Nearly 400 elementary school students move from Columbia Elementary north of Las Cruces to Centennial High School on the city’s south side.
The mold was recently discovered in at least six Columbia classrooms. After moving students to a nearby middle school for a day, Las Cruces Public Schools settled on Centennial for a permanent move this semester.
“Centennial High School had the space, the availability, and they were more than welcoming to having the children here, so it was a perfect situation for us to be able to transition the children,” said Ray Jaramillo, LCPS School Board Member.
The students will be housed on the third floor of one building, kept separate from the high school population. Teachers don’t have all the same resources they had back in Columbia and it’ll take time to move their books and material.
Jaramillo said that won’t stop teachers from going forward.
“Teachers are teachers and this is what we do. So, they’re going to take just a minute to get acclimated here and they’re going to be doing exactly what they need to be doing for young children,” he said.
Parents told ABC-7 this is not the first time Columbia Elementary faces mold issues.
Jaramillo said the mold had been an issue before, and he’s working with the district to make sure this issue is fixed and does not come up again.
“I really do trust the people who are involved in making sure that the environment is safe for our children and so I’m excited to be able to work with them and get this situation resolved once and for all,” he explained.
District officials said buses will continue transporting students from their route to Centennial High school.
They emphasized the students’ safety is paramount and all is being done to give them the best learning environment possible during this temporary period of inconvenience.
