Children enrolled at Mesa Elementary School will have several extra days of summer to play while workers conduct needed asbestos abatement work at the school.

Mesa Elementary officials announced Monday that they plan to open the school to students on Monday, Sept. 11.

Mesa’s fall term was supposed to commence on Aug. 30, the same day as all of the other schools in the Re-1 school district.

During the last week in July, representatives from the Colorado Department of Health Air Quality Division visited Cortez to review Re-1’s compliance with the AHERA rules governing asbestos in schools.

The health-department representatives determined that all of the district’s paperwork and buildings were in compliance with state and EPA rules.

However, they did require that the majority of Mesa’s ceiling tile — approximately 30,000 square feet — be removed within a 12-month period.

The Re-1 school board then decided not to wait until next summer to make the needed repairs, and instructed that the tile be removed as soon as possible without delaying the school’s first day of class beyond Sept. 18.

Riffey said that if further delays are needed, parents will be notified as soon as possible.