Members of the public who attended a public meeting at CedarBridge Academy last night were surprised to hear that the school had been closed due to environmental health concerns.

The meeting on gang violence in the Ruth Seaton Auditorium started just minutes after Education, Sport and Recreation Minister Randolph Horton announced that CedarBridge would be closed for an interim period as investigators tried to figure out what had caused a small number of people to fall ill at the school. Students were seen walking the school corridors last night and a number of women were seen casually leaving an exercise class.

They were all unaware that a dangerous mould could have been circulating through the schools air conditioning system. The only outward sign that something was wrong was the concern etched on the faces of the school?s security guards who were seen huddled in a circle, whispering and gesturing furiously at each other, as they tried to decide if they should stay or immediately leave.

By 10 p.m. the school was deserted except for a security guard ? who had just driven up in a van.

Shortly after the televised announcement, one of the security guards told : ?I understand this has something to do with mould and teachers getting sick. I am very concerned about it because I am on immune suppressant medication and I should have been told what the problem was.?

Referring to the public meeting he said: ?I am going to get these people out of here and then I am leaving. I need to make an appointment with my doctor.?

Another security guard said: ?I don?t know what to think. We should have been told. They must have known before now.?

Shawna Wilson was upset that the public meeting had not been cancelled: ?This is terrifying. I am frightened. Why did they allow the meeting to continue??

Another woman who did not want to be identified said: ?I am upset that we were not told. I would not have attended the meeting had I known. This is outrageous!?

A CedarBridge Academy teacher, who did not want to be named, was concerned about the health of the students. ?My concern is how many students were affected.

?We need to know what the symptoms are and we need to know how many of our students were exposed to this dangerous mould.?

?We need to get on top of this. We don?t know why teachers and children are getting sick and that is frightening.?