Mould removed from B.C. school lunch room

Black mould growing in an elementary school lunch room in Nelson, B.C., has finally been removed, officials say.

Some parents had complained their kids were having asthma attacks because of the mould growing beneath the school’s lunch room floor.

The lunch room at Hume Elementary is still fenced off and remains off limits to staff and students, but school board superintendent Jeff Jones said contractors got the last of the mould out over the Christmas break.

“There are still parents who are concerned, understandably. Before Christmas two kids had asthma,” Jones said.

Jones says they've done continuous air quality testing and found elevated levels of spores around a kindergarten class last week and moved the students as a precaution.

“I am convinced it is safe school. If we had been advised at any point it was unsafe we would have closed the school,” said Jones.

The lunch room mould was traced to a leaky water tank.

Jones said officials hope to have the lunch room rebuilt by the end of the school year.

With files from the CBC's Bob Keating