ELKINS – Elkins Middle School will remain closed until at least Wednesday, as officials announced this morning that the facility will be on remote learning Monday.

The following was posted by Randolph County Schools on its social media Friday morning:

“Due to continued testing, Elkins Middle School will be on remote learning on Monday, November 4, 2024.”

On Tuesday, all county schools will be closed for Election Day.

This week, Randolph County made the decision to break the tradition of using Elkins Middle School as a polling place on Tuesday, due to ongoing air quality concerns at the school.

Precincts 27 and 28, which normally vote at EMS, will instead cast ballots at the Phil Gainer Community Center Tuesday.

Dr. Shawn Dilly, the Randolph County superintendent of schools, released documentation Wednesday showing that six separate inspections of the school have taken place since Thursday, Oct. 24, the day that some students first began suffering symptoms and were treated at Davis Medical Center.

The school was closed down on Friday, Oct. 25 in response to the situation. The first inspections took place that day, and found nothing that would cause illness, Dilly said.

Elkins Middle School reopened for classes Monday, but once again students reported becoming sick and being treated at the hospital.

Dilly then said the school would shift to remote learning for the rest of this week, while further testing was conducted. Elkins Fire Chief Steve Himes told The Inter-Mountain Monday that his department had been at the school five different times at that point and had found nothing that would explain the illnesses.

The West Virginia Army National Guard’s 35th Civil Support Team came to inspect the school Tuesday. The team’s commander, Ryan Schwartz, wrote that they found “no elevated readings” or anything else that would indicate why students would become ill.