Class delayed a day after mould found in Tyndall Park school

The first day of school has been postponed at École Stanley Knowles School after teachers discovered mould on chairs, rugs and other items when they were setting up their classrooms.

Families were alerted Thursday afternoon that an “HVAC malfunction” required extensive cleanup and, as a result, a one-day delay to the new year.

“I called it a couple weeks ago — it smelled really strong of mould,” said Amanda Bell, a mother who’s gone to the building regularly all summer to drop off and pick up her children from the on-site daycare.

Bell recalled she and her partner got a whiff of “wet mould” in a first-floor hallway near the library in mid-August and flagged it to an employee who told them they’d contact a custodian.

The mother of four was reminded of the interaction when she received an apology from the Winnipeg School Division in her email inbox. The memo has also made her question whether her son’s late-summer exhaustion has anything to do with exposure to mould, she said.

The Free Press has learned that staff at the nursery-to-Grade 8 school were notified on Aug. 24 that mould had been found in a classroom.

Administration announced eight days later that employees weren’t being allowed inside the school because of remediation work.

“We apologize for this extreme inconvenience, as we know this will cause complications for families,” chief superintendent Matt Henderson wrote in a mass email — marking the first time Bell learned about the mould problem — on Thursday.

Henderson said the first day of class has been bumped to Sept. 10, and replaced by a professional development day.

Multiple teachers told the Free Press they found fluffy white and green mould on wood, plastic and other surfaces upon returning to work to get ready for 2026-27.

Both of the teachers, neither of whom was authorized to do interviews, indicated approximately 20 rooms are affected.

“This is crazy. That means each of them have water and each of them have food,” said Shirley Thompson, a professor who researches indoor and outdoor air quality at the University of Manitoba.

After reviewing photos one employee took of mould colonies in the school, Thompson said they depict “a major contamination” and a significant leak, poor maintenance and a humid summer are all likely contributing factors.

Teachers said the air conditioning had been acting up and an aging roof, which was being replaced over the summer break, had caused leakage in the past.

Thompson, a former school board health and safety officer, said leaky windows are typically the source of mould in classrooms.

The environment has to be damp for an extended period for mould to breed on wood, the professor said, noting the images she viewed suggest the build up was at least several weeks old when it was discovered.

One teacher said she had an itchy throat for multiple hours after visiting the school at the end of August.

“It’s disappointing. I really value this time to set up my room and feel prepared and ease back into the new year and meet new colleagues,” she said.

Another teacher described feeling “uneasy” about the state of their workspace and worried “a rush job” is underway.

Staff are scheduled to work out of a divisional site on Tuesday and Wednesday. A meet-and-greet for families that was scheduled on the eve of classes starting up is being rescheduled.

Henderson said in an interview that the source of the problem is a clogged valve in the HVAC system that caused humidity and rapid mould growth.

It’s going to be an “all hands on deck” long weekend of cleaning mechanical parts with the help of dozens of custodians and a local contractor, the superintendent said.

“(We’re) also going into individual classrooms and scrubbing chairs and desks just to make sure that everything is as clean as it possibly can be,” he said.

Henderson said he had not been made aware of any black mould and it is unclear whether the recent retirement of the building’s head custodian was a factor.

Testing will be done on Tuesday to determine whether it’s safe to reopen for Sept. 10. Health and safety officers will make the final call, Henderson said.

“Out out of an abundance of caution, we’re pushing (our start) by one day just to give it a little bit of room, but also to get teachers to sort out classrooms,” he added.

The Winnipeg Teachers’ Association confirmed “a small amount” of educators have flagged concerns about air quality. President Kristen Fallis, who represents about 3,300 teachers, said she’s “satisfied” with all the steps that have been taken to ensure students and staff are safe.

Manitoba’s workplace safety and health unit responded to an Aug. 26 complaint about mould and indoor air quality and visited the school the next day. No orders were issued, but a government spokesperson said the province requested more information from the division.

The situation, simply put, “sucks,” said Bell, whose children are entering kindergarten, Grade 2, Grade 6 and 8.

At the same time, the Tyndall Park mother said she won’t have to rearrange her schedule too much because she’d booked the week off.

“The kids, overall, are excited to go back because they can play with their friends but now… they’re probably going to be excited (about the delay) because it’s an extra day off and an extra day to sleep in.”

Stanley Knowles Children’s Centre, which also announced Thursday that it was extending a planned closure until regular classes began, did not respond to requests for comment.

There was a scheduled closure at the centre between the last day of August and Labour Day to allow school staff to prepare for the return of all students.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca