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Three U-46 school buildings to reopen Monday after bacteria find

Three Elgin Area School District U-46 buildings will reopen Monday after high levels of the bacteria that can cause Legionnaires' disease were found earlier this week, officials said.

Eastview Middle School in Bartlett, Larkin High School in Elgin and the Educational Services Center, which holds the central office and Gifford Street High School programs in Elgin, were evacuated Wednesday morning after abnormally high levels of the bacteria were detected in water cooling towers. The buildings remained closed Thursday and Friday.

The school district “followed and exceeded all industry cleaning protocol” in taking steps to rid the system of the bacteria, officials said in a news release Friday afternoon.

“We're looking forward to reopening school at these three sites on Monday and are confident that we have done everything possible to ensure a safe environment,” U-46 CEO Tony Sanders said. “I want to thank everyone who has helped us respond to this issue and protect our students and staff.”

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a normal, safe level of the Legionella bacteria is 1,000 of colony-forming units per milliliter, or cfu/mL, the release said. Test results received Wednesday showed Eastview was at 1,480 CFU/mL, Larkin at 940 CFU/mL and the Educational Services Center/Gifford Street High School at 1,350 CFU/mL, the release said.

“We have retested but just like the first round, it takes time when you're testing a culture. Last time, we took the tests Sept. 8 and 9 and got results back on the 23rd. We would expect a similar time frame,” district spokeswoman Mary Fergus said.

The district has performed a “shock” of all 19 cooling towers by draining and flushing them with four times the recommended level of cleaning/disinfecting agents, and descaling or removal of any hard water deposits in the towers, officials said. Also, two more “shocks” per tower are scheduled Saturday.

The water in the cooling system is separate from drinking water.

“I am confident that the steps taken by the district have reduced what was previously a very low risk of exposure to a level that approaches zero risk of exposure or infection,” Dr. Robert Tiballi, who's in charge of infection control at Advocate Sherman Hospital, said in the release. “The bacteria is most problematic for people with severe underlying immune suppression, advanced lung disease or those who have a long history of smoking.”

Sanders and Tiballi, along with the school district staff, will meet with parents and community members Sunday to answer any questions. At 1 p.m. they'll be at Larkin High School, 1475 Larkin Ave., at 3 p.m. at Eastview Middle School, 321 N. Oak Ave.

Nineteen of the district's 53 schools have cooling towers that require testing; the other schools have different cooling systems.

The district this year added the legionella bacteria test based on a recommendation from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, officials said.

School officials said the district will test for bacteria before school starts next year and increase testing and sanitizing procedures at the 19 towers throughout the school year.

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