Kennedy High School’s Richmond campus is off-limits to staff and families after preliminary vapor testing results prompted the West Contra Costa Unified School District to issue a stay-away notice Monday. The order remains in effect until further notice, leaving the community waiting for answers just days before the new school year ramps up.
Superintendent Cheryl Cotton said the warning was issued out of an abundance of caution, according to CBS San Francisco. The district has not publicly identified what was detected, whether anyone was exposed, or how long the campus will remain closed to the affected groups.
The timing is especially disruptive: West Contra Costa Unified’s calendar lists new teacher orientation beginning August 12, professional development on August 13 and 14, and the first day of school on August 18. It was not immediately clear whether those activities will be moved, delayed or handled elsewhere.
Notice Comes During Kennedy’s Major Campus Rebuild
Kennedy is already in the midst of a major modernization project, with the district publishing demolition and construction updates for 2026 on its modernization project page. The district’s current notice does not say that construction caused the vapor-testing concern or that the stay-away order is limited to a particular building.
The campus overhaul was expected to continue while the school remained open, with students using portable classrooms during phased construction, Richmondside reported last year. That makes the district’s new blanket warning notable, though the available information does not establish a connection between the construction work and the preliminary testing results.
District Has Not Released A Return Timeline
Officials have not announced when additional testing will be completed or when staff and families may return. CBS San Francisco said it had contacted the Department of Toxic Substances Control and the district for more information.
For now, the message to the Kennedy community is unusually simple: stay away from campus and wait for the next update. Until officials release the testing details, the notice signals caution—but not yet a confirmed explanation of what prompted it.
