School officials are assuring Mountain Pointe High School students and parents that everyone is safe after a meth incident on campus.
Mountain Pointe Principal Bruce Kipper sent a letter to families Friday morning after three classrooms were found with a trace amount of meth residue.
According to the letter, the amount found in the classrooms was less than 100 nanograms.
Experts, including an independent board-certified toxicologist, said the amount found in the classrooms are not harmful and will not result in any heath problems.
Using an abundance of caution, the school and the school district have decided to close the classrooms involved in the incident and will have the classrooms professionally cleaned and retested for residue.
"I just don't know what they are thinking. I wish there was more education, maybe for the kids, and whoever, but drugs can just ruin their lives," said Carolyn Brinkley who lives nearby,
According to the note sent to families, the incident started when a routine inspection was done on the apartment of the live-in security guard.
The first routine inspection was done on May 25 and it was found to be in very good condition.
The security guard resigned in early July and moved out. About a month later, the apartment was assessed and it was found to be in very poor condition with an unknown odor.
The school asked the fire department to come to the scene and test the air quality. The tests came back clear and firefighters deemed the air was safe.
Additional testing was conducted and that is when surface tests concluded nearby classrooms had a trace amount of meth.
Phoenix police told ABC15 they have been working with school since the discovery of the damages to the apartment.
Police have taken a criminal damage report and will fill the report with the County Attorney's office.
According to police, there is not enough evidence to warrant a police investigation.
Mountain Pointe High School is located near 44th Street and Ray Road in Ahwatukee.
Read the entire letter from the principal below:
August 26, 2016
Mountain Pointe Families,
I am following up on the email I sent you back on August 12, 2016, regarding a couple of classrooms in the west portion of our G-wing. First and foremost, I want to assure you that students and staff are safe. I also want to provide you with some additional details concerning these events.
On May 25, 2016, a routine inspection was done on the apartment of the live-in security guard. The apartment was in very good condition and received high ratings. In early July, the security guard resigned and moved out. The apartment remained vacant and locked. Additional walkthroughs were conducted of the apartment between August 9th and 12th to assess the need for renovations. The empty apartment was in a very poor condition at that time and was significantly different than it had been in May. There was also an unknown odor.
We asked the fire department to come out and test the air quality. Even though the apartment space has its own air system, which is not shared with any other parts of the building, we asked the firefighters to also test the air in the nearby classrooms. As you know, the tests came back clear and the firefighters deemed the air safe. As an extra precaution, the firefighters suggested we conduct additional surface testing. Additional testing was conducted between August 17th and 19th. We decided to relocate students and staff from 3 nearby classrooms until we had the results of all tests.
Last night, we shared the test results with the staff members and the parents of the students who were relocated. This morning, we shared the results of the surface tests with the rest of the staff and are now sharing this with all other parents. We are also working with the City of Phoenix Police Department on this matter and are fully cooperating with their investigation.
The surface tests conducted in the nearby classrooms indicated a trace amount of methamphetamine residue. The amount is less than 100 nanograms in those three classrooms... A nanogram is one billionth of a gram. Experts at last night's meeting, including an independent board-certified toxicologist, explained that this amount is not harmful and will not result in any health problems for those who spent time in the classrooms. In fact, the amount detected in the classrooms is not enough to cause any effect at all. Nonetheless, out of an abundance of caution, we will not be returning staff or students to those classrooms until the classrooms are professionally cleaned and retested.
I know that you may have additional questions about this matter, and so please don't hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your understanding.
Bruce Kipper
Principal
