The board of governors at CedarBridge Academy is looking for a local contractor to clean mould from the Ruth Seaton James Auditorium.

The performing arts area of the school has been sealed off since last November when the school was suddenly closed after complaints from teachers about sickness allegedly caused by the environment.

The auditorium remained closed when the rest of the school reopened after a $3.8 million clean-up in January - though it is not clear why the area was not dealt with at the same time.

The governors at the Island’s largest public school have now advertised for contractors to tender for the mould remediation work and bidders will meet on site today at 3.30 p.m.

The Royal Gazette asked board chairman George Scott a series of questions this week about the auditorium, including:

* Why has it taken so long for the school to start looking for contractors to do the work when the auditorium was declared off-limits almost five months ago?

* Why was remediation work not carried out when the rest of the work was done prior to the school reopening in January?

* How much is the clean-up of the auditorium expected to cost? Is the money included in this year’s budget? If so, under which head?

* What has the school been using in place of the auditorium? Has the curriculum/lessons been affected?

Government backbencher Mr. Scott replied: “CedarBridge Academy board of governors has been and continues to be committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for students, faculty and support staff. All efforts to do so are ongoing.”

A Ministry of Education spokeswoman said the Ministry could not answer the questions as the advert for tenders was placed by the governors.

School principal Kalmar Richards did not respond to a request for comment.