New Education Minister Randolph Horton moved quickly tonight to order that CedarBridge Academy be closed temporarily due to the discovery of aspergillus fungus mold in the building.

Speaking last night with a clutch of the Education and Health Permanent Secretaries, the Chief Medical Officer, the president of the Bermuda Union of Teachers and the union's organiser around him, Mr. Horton said the school will not open tomorrow (Thursday, November 2, 2006) and Friday and will remain closed over the mid-term holiday while the mould is removed.

Alternative arragements will be made to accomodate the school's nearly 1,000 students.

Opened in 1998, CedarBridge was the first of the Island's "mega-schools" designed to replace a half dozen high schools. The second large school in the new system, the new Berkeley Institute opened in September.

See tomorrow's Royal Gazette for comprehensive coverage of this story.