GLENDALE, AZ — After two days, safety issues resulting from a small bathroom fire at Horizon Elementary School in Glendale are still unresolved, and district officials say the school will not reopen until at least Monday.
The fire forced the evacuation of the school on Tuesday.
Students, parents and staff, in the meantime, have been scrambling to attend other area schools while Horizon is being cleaned.
Contractors hired by the Glendale Elementary School District could be seen coming in and out of Horizon Elementary all day Thursday, cleaning not only the bathroom area, burned by a suspected student setting a roll of toilet paper on fire but also the ventilation system.
JoAnna Svoboda, Director of Operations & Management for the district, says the ventilation system connected to the bathroom runs throughout the entire building and they were concerned that potentially hazardous toxins could have seeped into classrooms and offices.
“Our number one priority is to make sure our students and staff are safe, so we wanted to make sure the air quality is safe. So that’s what’s taking the time, to ensure that it is a thorough cleaning and that everything is set to prepare for a safe return,” said Adriana Parsons, Director of Communications.
In the meantime, students were assigned alphabetically to attend one of three other schools in the area.
Katie Tiefenthaler has both a 1st and 8th grader in the district and dropped off her children at Desert Garden Elementary for the day, Thursday morning.
“They’re a little bit nervous, but we’ve just been talking the positive route. It’s going to be a fun adventure,” Tiefenthaler said.
Despite the inconvenience, Tiefenthaler says she’s pleased with the level of communication from school officials to ease her concerns.
“I think my biggest concern is the plastic and the melted plastic and the chemicals in the air from that,” she said.
Svoboda says most of the air quality tests have been completed and they found no dangerous toxins such as carbon dioxide, and the school is free from asbestos. But they’re still waiting on the results of a soot test to come back from an out-of-state lab, and that’s why the building won’t be open until Monday.
“Yeah, they’re definitely being cautious, and I think that’s good,” Tiefenthaler said.
Svoboda says the contractor cleanup work is being paid out of an Arizona trust.
No one was hurt during Tuesday’s fire and evacuation.
Both the district and Glendale Fire Department are in contact with the student they suspect started the fire.
They wouldn’t elaborate on any disciplinary action or counseling the child might receive moving forward.
