Del Sur Elementary School will remain closed until January after district officials abandoned a September reopening target.
The Poway Unified School District campus in San Diego County had aimed to welcome students back by September 21 following a temporary relocation to nearby Stone Ranch Elementary. Officials now say the mold remediation requires a significantly longer timeline to fully resolve.
“Our priority is creating a safe and supportive learning environment for students. If the campus is ready sooner, we will return sooner; if additional work is needed, we will take the time necessary to complete it,” the district said in a statement. The extension gives crews enough time to finish remediation and test building systems during routine operations.
Kristen Montan, whose daughter attended Del Sur Elementary, has become one of the most vocal parents demanding accountability from the district.
“January 2022, she has ADHD and the meds she was on just completely stopped working and she became a completely different person overnight,” Montan told Fox 5 last month.
The health complications persisted throughout her daughter’s two and a half years at the school.
“Like clockwork every year around November, December something else would pop up… Headaches like five to six times a week, then stomach problems started five to six times a week. She started developing insomnia and then skin issues,” she continued.
Lab work eventually revealed “extremely high levels of mold in her body, four different types of mold,” Montan said.
Around the same time, a Del Sur Elementary teacher performed independent classroom testing and shared the findings with Montan.
“The molds found on that report were consistent with what is in my daughter’s system, as well as five of the most toxic black molds,” Montan added. She has since launched an online petition to demand accountability from the school district.
Earlier this year, a Poway Unified School District spokesperson confirmed that testing firm Air America detected mold in six of 17 areas evaluated in July. Although crews replaced air filters and scrubbed floors, follow-up testing revealed “lingering issues” in three rooms, Fox 5 reported.
The district has not specified whether students will continue at Stone Ranch Elementary or another temporary location through the extended closure. Parents learned of the January timeline after weeks of uncertainty following the initial September target.
Montan’s account aligns with broader concerns about environmental hazards in aging school facilities across California. Her daughter’s documented symptoms — recurring headaches, gastrointestinal problems, insomnia, and skin conditions — followed a seasonal pattern that Montan traced to the academic calendar.
The independent teacher testing proved pivotal in connecting her daughter’s medical results to conditions inside specific classrooms. That report identified mold strains matching those in the child’s system, including varieties classified among the most toxic black molds.
The district’s July evaluation by Air America covered 17 separate areas on campus, with positive results in more than one-third of locations. Remediation efforts including filter replacements and floor scrubbing failed to fully clear three rooms, prompting the extended closure timeline now stretching into the new year.
Montan’s online petition continues to gather signatures as families await the January reopening.
Poway Unified officials have scheduled a community meeting for October 15 in San Diego to update parents on remediation progress and temporary schooling arrangements.