More than 650 students who attend St. Margaret of York in Loveland remain out of the classroom as crews continue mold remediation work that has already pushed back the start of the 2026-2027 school year, with no new opening date yet announced. Workers have been on site daily, including Sundays, as families adjust their own schedules around a delay that still has no clear resolution.
The mold was first discovered in office spaces shortly after the building reopened in late June, according to WLWT, which reported that school administration brought in an industrial hygienist along with professional remediation crews. The station's report indicates the school has been targeting an early September return, though as of Monday, per FOX19, St. Margaret of York had not announced a new start date, and the school's website still does not list one. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati had not responded to FOX19's request for comment.
Parents Notified, but No Firm Timeline
Sue Gilkey, whose relative attends the school, told FOX19 that parents were notified mold had been found in the building and that the delay stems from the school putting student safety first. Families say they still lack clear direction on how the missed instructional days will eventually be made up, though FOX19 reports that any missed days will have to be repaid depending on how many are ultimately lost.
St. Margaret of York enrolls students in kindergarten through eighth grade from 17 regional school districts under Principal Kristin Penley, according to the school's own listing. The Loveland campus, at 9495 Columbia Road, operates within the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's network of 110 Catholic schools serving more than 40,000 students across 19 counties in western and southwestern Ohio. It has twice been named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education, in 2013 and 2023, and its students qualify for state-funded tuition assistance through Ohio's EdChoice Scholarship program.
Health Department Watching, Not Stepping In
The Warren County Health Department is aware of the mold situation but has said it is not stepping in because the school is taking appropriate steps to address it, per the same FOX19 account. The department typically conducts two inspections at area schools each year and told the outlet that St. Margaret of York has no history of prior mold issues. Officials said they plan to conduct their own inspection once classes resume.
How Ohio's Hour-Based Calendar Could Affect Makeup Days
Whether the delay ultimately forces an extended school year may hinge on Ohio's unusual approach to counting instructional time. Under state law, chartered nonpublic and public schools must provide at least 910 hours of instruction annually for kindergarten through sixth grade and 1,001 hours for grades seven through 12, according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Ohio replaced traditional calamity days with this hour-based system in 2014, meaning schools that build extra buffer hours into their calendars beyond the state minimum are not required to make up missed days unless total hours fall below the threshold.
Separately, state law allows schools to adopt an online makeup hour plan by August 1 each year, permitting the equivalent of up to three school days to be made up remotely during emergency closures caused by building damage or utility failure. If a school does not adopt such a plan before that deadline, any emergency online days it uses will not count toward the state minimum. It remains unclear whether St. Margaret of York adopted an online makeup plan before this year's deadline or how many buffer hours are built into its calendar, and the dossier does not resolve either question.
No Federal Spore Limits, Just Urgency to Dry Things Out
Federal guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends drying wet building materials within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth, but neither the EPA nor the CDC sets a numerical federal standard for indoor mold spore counts. That leaves clearance decisions in the hands of industrial hygienists and local health officials rather than a fixed legal threshold, which helps explain why remediation timelines like Loveland's can stretch on without a firm reopening date.
Part of a Wider Back-to-School Mold Pattern
St. Margaret of York is far from alone this year. Pennsylvania's Homer-Center School District pushed its start date to September 1 after finding elevated Aspergillus mold spores in elementary classrooms, as Hoodline reported. Del Sur Elementary School in California and Westwood Elementary School in Texas also delayed their openings this month over summer moisture accumulation and HVAC-related mold contamination, part of a pattern in which idle air conditioning systems and heavy summer humidity routinely disrupt K-12 reopenings across the country.
For now, families connected to St. Margaret of York are left waiting, much like those in the other districts, for word on when their children can return and how the lost classroom time will ultimately be recovered.
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