Results of an environmental study at Penn Kidder Elementary won’t be presented until March, but Jim Thorpe Area School District directors are already acting on several of the recommendations contained within it.

The school board on Wednesday approved a proposal from Houck and Company to raise boiler chimney height at Penn Kidder at a cost of $31,924.

The project, Superintendent Robert Presley, aims to stop diesel fumes from entering elementary classrooms.

“When the wind is blowing a certain way, fumes do come into certain rooms,” Presley said. “The recommendation was to raise the height to 38.64 feet, but we’re actually going to go a little higher to 40 feet to make sure we go above the roof line.”

In November, Sara Mass, who was acting Penn Kidder principal at the time, corroborated the concerns, stating that staff has been experiencing the smell for at least two years.

“I get the blast of smell in my office and I have to leave the office,” Mass said. “I have staff who are concerned. They are worried and they want to make sure they are safe and the students in our building are safe.”

Jim Thorpe commissioned an environmental study at the school, which opened in 2003, due to what district officials termed “health concerns” by a large group of staff members. Mountain Research was hired in October to complete the study at a cost of $20,750.

Mary Blay, a substitute teacher in the district, said during November’s school board meeting that staff asked for the study because, “there have been so many cases of cancer” in people who work or have worked at Penn Kidder.

Presley said initial reports from the study showed “no immediately dangerous to life or health conditions.”

The district is moving forward with a long-term radon test in Room 106.

“The first test came back just above the limit,” Presley said. “That longer term test has been ordered.”

The study also recommended the district do an asbestos inspection.

“This building, due to its age, should not have any asbestos, but we are moving forward with scheduling that inspection,” Presley said.

He added that Charlie Dresher, the district’s buildings and grounds director, was slated to be trained Thursday to be Jim Thorpe’s designated person to manage asbestos.