Contributed photo
Cross's library: Back open, but still with old carpeting.
Wilbur Cross High School’s library is back open after a month-long mold closure — and new vinyl flooring will be coming soon to replace the room’s mold-prone carpeting.
Those updates came during last Monday’s latest monthly Board of Education Finance and Operations Committee.
The committee approved a purchase order for contractor Dalene Flooring to replace the carpet in the East Rock public high school’s library with luxury vinyl planking. That project will cost $87,740.
This comes after New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) facilities consultant Michael Carter discovered, along with Cross Principal Matt Brown discovered during the district’s first week back for the 2024 – 25 school year that Cross’s library had mold spores in the air. At the time, NHPS spokesperson Justin Harmon reported that the district would use HEPA vacuums to clean the surfaces and HEPA filters to clear the air of the media center.
On Friday, Harmon reported that the library re-opened at the start of October. He said that a music room that had also been closed for the start of the school year re-opened at the start of October, as well.
“As we know, we’ve had some mold issues in that space,” ABM Executive Director of Facilities Jamar Alleyne told the school board committee last Monday while presenting the library-related purchase orders. “And so we’re beginning to remove carpet in spaces where there have been mold issues to reduce the amount of moisture and possibility of mold growth in that space.”
Since the start of the school year, Cross teachers have highlighted the disrepair of the city’s largest high school. While Supt. Madeline Negrón and Carter have blamed understaffing and aging buildings, custodial union President Tom Delucia has blamed privatization of maintenance services. Mayor Justin Elicker has proposed putting $5.5 million of last fiscal year’s budget surplus toward school building repairs.
In addition to the library-floor-replacement approval, the school board committee also signed off on a contract for Dalene Flooring to replace Cross’s damaged stair treads to fix current tripping hazards.
“There’s damage to the majority of the stair treads and landings, material that coats the stairs and landings, and this is to replace that material for Cross,” Alleyne said about the stair-tread-repair contract.
Harmon said that the installation of the new library floor will have to wait until the library is not in use, as Cross students are currently using the space to take tests. “If the materials come in on time, the work could potentially happen over the winter break,” he said.
The materials for the stair tread repairs must also be ordered and the district plans to consult with the fire marshal about “whether it will be possible to close individual staircases temporarily while the treads are being repaired, or whether this project needs to wait until the building is empty.”
He also added that NHPS recently installed a new HVAC system in the portion of the building that includes the childcare facility and now is in the process of installing new controls for the system.
Click here and here for the full materials related to Cross’s library-floor and stair-tread replacement contracts.
Damaged stair treads at Cross on Friday.
Library carpet.