The exterior view of a typical American school building seen on a spring day. (littleny / Getty Images)
By Nick Givas August 26, 2026 at 11:00am
Barack Obama Elementary School in Richmond, Virginia, was forced to close its doors this week after a serious mold issue was detected inside the building.
Richmond Public Schools is hoping to have teachers back by Monday, but students will likely have to wait until later this week to return, according to WWBT-TV.
Teachers will be given time to set up their classrooms once they return, but no official date has been set, and virtual learning was not offered as an option.
Superintendent Jason Karmas wrote in a Tuesday night update, however, that Pine Camp Community Center will offer an “educare” option starting on Thursday, Aug. 27.
“The daily schedule will focus on academic and enrichment activities led by Barack Obama educators. We will also have an RPS nurse on-site to handle all student medication and health needs,” he wrote.
Karmas also said the school is working to prepare Clark Springs Elementary School as a temporary space, if needed, ABC News reported.
“Our plan is to return to Obama as soon as it is safe to do so. The earliest that will be is next week, meaning that the building will remain closed until then,” he declared.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to send everyone home so we could thoroughly re-clean the newly identified areas and perform additional antimicrobial fogging.”
“We will then retest every single room in the school,” Karmas added. “All of this is realistically going to take several days. So we will not be returning to the Obama building this week. Our goal is to do so by Monday.”
Contractors are currently examining specific spots cited by staff members, while inspecting other areas of the school to cover their bases.
Mayor Danny Avula issued a statement which read, “I know that they are doing everything they can to meet the needs of our students, teachers, and staff so that our students can proceed with the school year as soon as possible.”
On Sunday, Karmas informed staff members and parents that they think the “remediation efforts uncovered what we believe is the primary source of the mold growth, which was a moist pipe hidden in a supply closet above ceiling tiles.”
“We were able to thoroughly clean this impacted area, and the mold levels dropped significantly in response,” he concluded.
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Nick Givas has been a reporter for The Daily Caller, Fox News, and served as Managing Editor of the Newsroom at Project Veritas. He’s also hosted three different podcasts, served as a Congressional Communications Director, and had his work featured in The Federalist, Daily Signal, New York Post, and Real Clear Politics.
