With further mold remediation necessary at Northwestern Lehigh Middle School, displaced students will begin attending classes in other buildings in the district on Tuesday.

The district notified families that students in grades 6-8 will have their first day of school Sept. 4, in a letter signed by Superintendent Jennifer Holman.

Transportation schedules won’t be changed, however the schools that students attend will.

All buses will be operating on the schedule that was sent to parents via the Sapphire Parent Portal account.

However the buses will transport all middle school students to Northwestern Lehigh High School, where students in grades 6 and 7 will transfer to another bus taking them to Weisenberg Elementary School. Grade 6 and 7 students will be taught by their respective grade-level teams at Weisenberg Elementary until further notice.

All grade 8 students will remain at Northwestern Lehigh High School, where they will be taught by their grade 8 teaching team until further notice.

“Although this schedule is an inconvenience, we believe it is what is in the best interest of students at this time to begin the school year with their teachers in another space while the remediation continues,” the letter read.

Middle school staff started transitioning to the other buildings in the district on Wednesday.

Holman said there are rooms in the lower level of the middle school that need further mold remediation. She said the process is lengthy and detail oriented.

The mold remediation process involves creating negative air in each room, wiping down and disinfecting each item, and a 48-hour period of operating an industrial air scrubbing unit with a HEPA filter in each classroom and wing of the building.

Holman concluded her letter by saying the district understands the inconveniences, but is focused on safety to make the best possible decisions for students and staff. She said the school principal will send specific schedules to students.

The rest of the schools in the Northwestern Lehigh School District opened on Monday. Administrators have said that they plan to ask the school to make the first four days that the middle school missed into professional development days, so they don’t have to be made up later in the school year.