School in Hackettstown, New Jersey closed due to fungus buildup

HACKETTSTOWN, New Jersey (WABC) -- Students at a school in New Jersey were told to stay home Thursday as their school confronts concerns about the building's air quality.

Willow Grove Elementary School in Hackettstown has been closed.

The district was alerted to a fungus buildup caused by high levels of humidity and poor ventilation.

The discovery was made by maintenance crews who alerted the principal.

"Our building principal, Mr. McQueeney, started to move around some of our classes, just erring on the side of caution," said Hackettstown School Superintendent David Mango. "And by yesterday the 20th so basically a 36-hour turnaround time to 48 hours, we received notice from the same environmentalist that 13 classes for sure had high levels of fungus or spore activity, and then there were another five in question. So at that time I made an effective decision to close Willow Grove School down. An alert went out last night

He said it is not black mold. Air quality tests are now underway.

There are no indications any students or teachers ever became ill.

The school, built in 1971, has 250 students, kindergarten through 4th-grade.

Students are being told they can return to class at a temporary home in the middle school Friday.