{"id":6834,"date":"2026-08-15T06:38:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T06:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6834"},"modified":"2026-08-15T06:38:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T06:38:43","slug":"kennedy-high-opens-to-staff-students-after-new-toxin-test-shows-campus-to-be-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6834","title":{"rendered":"Kennedy High opens to staff, students after new toxin test shows campus to be safe"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>RICHMOND \u2014 Two weeks after a toxins discovery caused Kennedy High School to shutter, preparations are underway to welcome students back to campus Aug. 18 as assurances are made that the school is safe.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6832\">Opinion: California must protect West Oakland from Trump\u2019s toxic coal terminal<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe would not bring our students back to a situation that was not safe. We would not bring our staff into a situation that was not safe,\u201d said West Contra Costa Unified School District Superintendent Cheryl Cotton during a town hall Thursday. \u201cWe\u2019re doing everything we can to ensure the safety of our staff and our students. We will continue to monitor the situation so this is not the end of this process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>District officials closed the high school on Aug. 3 after an environmental test revealed \u201clevels of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) underneath the site,\u201d Cotton said in an email to families.<\/p>\n<p>Tests for PCE were conducted in mid-July after the city of Richmond sent a sample from a site near Kennedy High School to the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.<\/p>\n<p>Once made aware of construction happening at the campus, the agency suggested the district do its own testing to determine if a vapor barrier should be installed in the new building, said Marikka Hughes, branch chief of California Department of Toxic Substances Control\u2019s Site Mitigation and Restoration Program in Berkeley.<\/p>\n<p>The construction at Kennedy High School is not believed to be related in any way to the PCE findings, Hughes said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is important for us to think about the future in this regard and that is why we reached out. We wanted to see what we could do to help get that process going,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n<p>PCE, a manufactured chemical known to cause cancer, was used as a solvent by commercial dry cleaners for decades until the mid 2000s when the use began to be phased out ahead of a 2023 deadline requiring businesses to use safer alternatives.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Additional tests of air inside and out of classrooms and soil on campus have since found minimal or non-detectable levels of PCE, interim Associate Superintendent for Business Services Jeff Carter said.<\/p>\n<p>Readings conducted on neighboring streets by the Richmond Fire Department\u2019s Hazardous Materials Response Team also came back normal, said Deputy City Manager of Community Services LaShonda White. The city is also waiting on the results from additional sampling done around the school, she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just want to make sure the community knows that we\u2019re taking this issue serious,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n<p>A plume of PCE remains in the soil deep below the campus, largely contaminating ground water, said Gina Solomon, chief of the Division of Occupational, Environmental and Climate Medicine at University of California San Francisco, during Thursday\u2019s town hall.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The main concern was around whether vapors were rising up through the soils, which tests conclusively disputed, Solomon said. The plume may move in the future, but Solomon shared confidence in the district\u2019s plans to continue to monitor the issue, adding that she would be comfortable sending her own child to the school or working on the campus.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6830\">Two East Bay coaches honored as Coach Beam Service Award recipients<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am very happy to say that I feel extremely confident that the school is safe and that it will remain safe due to the vigilance of the school district,\u201d Solomon said. \u201cI\u2019m so pleased the school decided not to take any risks and to do the full testing and to make a science-based decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Completely removing the plume \u201cwould be ideal\u201d but the source of the PCE on campus is still unknown, Hughes said. Low levels of the chemical were found in two rooms on campus, the kitchen and welding shop, likely due to consumer products, Hughes and Carter said.<\/p>\n<p>PCE levels in the kitchen and welding shop were below minimum safety standards set by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, more commonly known as Cal\/OSHA, Hughes said. Concentration levels in both rooms were above residential standards set by the state, but those in the welding shop were below commercial standards while values in the kitchen were slightly above, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Testing was conducted under very conservative conditions and the rooms would currently be safe for students and staff to enter once accounting for air ventilation systems, air flow through doors and windows, and limited times spent in the rooms, she said.<\/p>\n<p>More testing is needed to understand the concentration of levels in each room and the agency has recommended doing an inventory of projects in those spaces, Hughes said. Mitigation in homes near Kennedy High School is not currently necessary, she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDTSC is confident that there is no vapor intrusion at Kennedy High School based on the samples and data that\u2019s been collected to date,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cDTSC is committed to maintaining a working relationship with the district and supporting Kennedy High during this, and as we are evaluating next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Out of an abundance of caution by the district, the kitchen and welding shop will remain closed until the inventory is conducted and products of concern are removed, Carter said. In the meantime, the district will activate mobile kitchens and food trucks to provide lunches, district spokesperson Liz Sanders said.<\/p>\n<p>Access to the Richmond Swim Center, which was also restricted due to PCE findings, will be reopened to the public by Aug. 21, White said.<\/p>\n<p>Marie Anyiam, a speech pathologist in the district, lives across the street from Kennedy High School with her two young children. Following the town hall, she said she felt a \u201csense of relief that the whole team came together to assure the community that we\u2019re on top of it and we\u2019re going to stay on top of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Educators were excited to learn the campus was safe and were expected to be back on campus Friday to set up their classrooms before the new school year begins, said Kennedy High School Principal David Luongo.<\/p>\n<p>Top concern for the United Teachers of Richmond, the union representing district educators and other professional staff, was student and staff safety, said union President Francisco Ortiz.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6828\">Roupp\u2019s rocky night, more quiet bats doom SF Giants vs. Rockies<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur folks were excited to get the good news,\u201d Ortiz said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;We will cointinue to monitor the situation so this is not the end of this process,&#8221; Superintendent Cheryl Cotton during a cross-agency town hall Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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