Tests of San Gabriel Elementary School campus show no dangerous chemicals

Parents were allowed onto the San Gabriel Elementary School campus on Thursday for the first time in nearly two weeks to pick up their children’s belongings, after no harmful chemicals were detected in preliminary environmental testing at the Atascadero school.

The school has remained shuttered since the Sept. 11 discovery of threatening notes and a still-undisclosed object containing an unknown liquid near the playground. The Atascadero Unified School District has been sending students to three other schools for classes since then.

The district hired an environmental testing firm to take samples from inside and outside buildings in the main portion of the campus. While preliminary results showed no harmful chemicals, the district is still awaiting results of a few remaining samples, the district said Thursday.

The FBI also is testing the liquid found near the playground at its Quantico, Va., lab. District officials did not know whether that testing was finished, and Atascadero police Chief Jerel Haley could not be immediately reached Thursday.

For two hours Thursday afternoon, parents were allowed on campus to gather up their children’s belongings.

School officials have not yet announced when the campus will re-open, but said Thursday that teachers will be given time to plan lessons in their own classrooms before students return.

As part of the return to the campus, custodial staff has begun cleaning the school and re-keying all buildings, the district said.

Atascadero police and district staff are continuing 24-hour monitoring of the campus and classes and student transportation will continue.

Upon return to the campus, school counselors will be available to speak with any students, staff or parents that desire counseling services, according to the district.

This story was originally published September 24, 2015 at 2:07 PM with the headline "Tests of San Gabriel Elementary School campus show no dangerous chemicals."