Parents, students and teachers from a Bellport intermediate school sought answers about the presence of toxic chemicals there at a board of education meeting Wednesday night.
The company that conducted environmental testing at the Frank P. Long Intermediate School says that it found just one volatile organic compound in excess of EPA standards. The company says that compound is not related to the Brookhaven Town landfill that sits near school grounds.
As News 12 Long Island has reported, the school community has expressed concerns that toxins at the landfill may be causing faculty and students to get sick. Many say they believe contaminants at the landfill have led to illnesses and deaths.
Despite the company's report, parents and teachers doubled down on their demand to close the school.
The district is considering contingency plans that include leasing a school from another district, installing temporary classrooms at other locations within the district, increasing class sizes or even building a new school to replace Frank P. Long. Each of those options would cost at least hundreds of thousands of dollars if the board decided to implement them.
And according to the district's superintendent, building a new school would cost more than $25 million and take about five years to complete.
The board is not expected to make a decision until a later date.