ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Years after Jana Elementary School was closed due to conflicting reports that radioactive contamination made its way onto school property, the Hazelwood School District has changed the building's name and primary use.
In a closed-door meeting earlier this month, the Hazelwood School Board voted to change the name of the facility to the Hazelwood School District Logistics Center. A spokesperson for the district said the facility will be used for storage.
The decision was voted on and approved in an Aug. 6 board meeting.
Former Jana Elementary PTA President Ashley Bernaugh released the following statement:
"Unfortunately this is yet another instance where the costs and responsibilities to protect the community continue to ride unfairly upon impacted communities.
We are still horrified that in 2024 our local elected officials have taken more action and responsibility for protecting children from federally abandoned radioactive weapons wastes than actual responsible parties, like Department of Energy (DOE). Our community is grateful the school board is maintaining their stance to protect the community and putting our kids first. "
"The boards most recent action to repurpose our beloved school into a storage facility shows how little comfort empty platitudes, malaligned science, and false equivalency examples from the Army Corps has advanced the protection of kids and communities from abandoned radioactive waste. Our community deserves more protective remediation efforts than the Army Corps or Department of Energy (DOE) has provided North County St. Louis thus far."
It is the latest update in an ongoing story of the elementary school that began two years ago.
In 2022, Jana Elementary gained national attention after conflicting reports of radioactive contamination at its site and within the school. In March 2023, the school shared it will not re-open.
Timeline of Jana Elementary's closure:
- On Aug. 5, 2022, parents at Jana Elementary School received a letter saying that on Jan. 27, 2022, the district was notified by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that soil sampling showed a presence of low-level radioactive contamination on the banks of Coldwater Creek, which is on the edge of Jana's property boundary.
- A private group, Boston Chemical Data Corp. arrived in St. Louis on Aug. 15, 2022, to test Jana Elementary, to get results for a class action lawsuit.
- Boston Chemical Data Corp. officially released the report on Oct. 10. It indicated high levels of radioactive Polonium, also known as Pb 210, inside the school building and on the playground areas.
- Jana's PTA got a hold of the information on Oct. 12, presented the information in a meeting to the rest of the PTA and broke the news on Oct. 14 to school families and Hazelwood released a statement right after.
- In October 2022, teachers packed up their classrooms in a matter of 48 hours to conduct virtual learning.
- On Nov. 9, 2022, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said preliminary results of contamination testing at Jana Elementary School showed no levels of radiation higher than “the level of radioactivity Mother Nature" already provides.
- On Nov. 11, 2022, school officials asked a third testing group SCI Engineering Inc. to do even more samples within the district: Hazelwood Central High School football field was one site. A district spokesperson confirmed this is being done out of an abundance of caution because a former employee made a report saying Jana soil may have been used to level the ground more than 25 years ago.
- On Nov. 15, 2022, SCI Engineering determined the levels of radioactivity found at Jana Elementary School were safe.
- On Nov. 28, 2022, Jana students reported to one of five different schools.
- On Jan. 23, 2023, the board sent a letter to the Department of Energy asking them to test the entire district, as they can determine what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can test.
- June of 2024: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) completed its project to remove radioactive soil near the former Jana Elementary School.