Elgin School District U46 officials have said that Eastview Middle School, Larkin High School and the Educational Services Center, high schools and the Central Schools Program will remain closed on September 24, as the district will complete the cleaning of the cooling towers for three sites.

Officials said that except the three sites all the other U46 schools and facilities will remain open. CEO Tony Sanders, said, “We are keeping these three buildings closed in an abundance of caution. We have absolutely no evidence that our students have been exposed to anything harmful. We expect to reopen these sites Friday after we repeat the cleaning process”.

Sanders said he has to decide whether to close schools for cold and snow. But this is the first time he's had to make such a decision based on a possible health hazard.

District U46 officials closed the three schools on Wednesday after high levels of Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaire's disease pneumonia, was found in the cooling water of their air conditioning cooling towers at those buildings.

Sanders in a press conference on Wednesday said that the air conditioning is routinely tested in the beginning of every school year. Samples were taken in the district's 53 schools on September 8, but the results did not come in until Wednesday morning.

John Heiderscheidt, the district's director of safety and culture, said the air conditioning cooling towers are self-contained, so movement of the bacteria from the cooling water to air being circulated through the buildings is unlikely.