Classes have been temporarily moved from a northeast Iowa school while officials track down the source of a bad smell that’s plagued the building for more than a week. Students at West Cedar Elementary School in Waverly are now attending classes at a nearby church and the city’s public library. A foul smell that infiltrated the school Thanksgiving weekend became so strong last week that the building was closed for three days. On Friday, officials cleaned the school in hopes of improving the air quality. They believe dirty air ducts may be causing the smell, but haven’t pin-pointed the exact source. Now, Superintendent Jere Vyverberg has decided to move classes from the school temporarily so the odor won’t be a distraction. Vyverberg has met with several environmental groups, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Officials are hopeful that more fresh air and humidity will increase the comfort level inside the school. Vyverberg says air-quality readings taken Tuesday indicate the smell poses no health hazards. Despite the findings, the superintendent says classes will remain at their makeshift locations until the problem is fixed.
