Penn Kidder Campus will remain closed Thursday and Friday while air quality testing continues, Jim Thorpe Area School District officials announced this week.

In a letter sent to parents and guardians, the district said the extended closure is needed because laboratory testing of air samples taken from the building is not yet complete.

“As scheduled, air samples were taken from the Penn Kidder building on Monday, Sept. 29, and sent to the lab that evening,” the letter stated. “The laboratory testing the air quality needs additional time to complete its analysis. We do not have any results from the lab. We expect a report by Friday. We are committed to ensuring the building is safe before students and staff return.”

With the closure extended, students will switch to virtual learning for the rest of the week. The district collected and cleaned iPads, which were distributed at the campus main entrance Wednesday from 12:30 to 6:30 p.m. and will again be distributed Thursday from noon to 4 p.m. Families who already have internet-capable devices at home do not need to pick up a district-issued iPad, the district announced.

Lessons, the letter continues, will be delivered in the same manner as a Flexible Instruction Day, with no live instruction. Students can access their coursework through Schoology, and paper versions are available for most assignments. Teachers will hold daily office hours from 10-11:30 a.m. and from 1-2:30 p.m.

Meal distribution for Penn Kidder students will continue Thursday from noon to 4 p.m. at the campus. Pre-K Counts students are attending Jim Thorpe Area High School while the Penn Kidder building remains closed.

While instruction shifts online, the Penn Kidder PTA’s Harvest Festival will take place outdoors as scheduled, according to an email from organizers. The event will be held Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. at the campus. It will feature food, a DJ, bounce houses, crafts and activities, mum and pumpkin sales and live animals from the Carbon County Environmental Center. Admission is free.

The closure stems from an incident last week that began when staff detected a strong mothball odor in a hallway on Sept. 24. The odor spread through the ventilation system into several classrooms, prompting an early dismissal.

Acting Superintendent Tom Lesisko said mothballs had been placed near a ventilation system by an individual trying to address a rodent problem.

“We quickly discussed the situation and determined we needed to get the kids out of the building,” Lesisko said. “The smell was not something we were used to, and mothballs certainly are not healthy. The safety of our students and staff was critical.”

“We believe this was done with good intention,” he said, “but once the fans started picking up some of the released odor, it spread.”

He said the building had experienced a rodent issue over the summer, leading to treatment by Ehrlich Pest Control.

“Traps were put outside the building,” he said. “Nobody has seen mice in the building. There were some droppings and that is where this individual decided to put the moth balls.”

Environmental testing began Monday using specialized air sampling vessels.

“That takes about eight hours because the vessels they use sit in different locations,” Lesisko said. “Normally for an area this size they would use three vessels, but because there are volatile chemicals involved they are using 10 to make sure there are no mistakes.”

The samples were sent to a lab in Lancaster, which is working with a facility in Louisiana.

“It’s a very unique situation,” Lesisko said. “If it were something simple like black mold, there’s a straightforward test. This is much more complicated.”

Lesisko said the district is reviewing how the situation unfolded.

“We are investigating how this happened, but I can’t go into details because it’s a personnel issue,” he said. “We are also looking at how we released students and how we communicated with parents. We’re trying to keep everyone up to date even when we don’t have 100% of the facts.”