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Simon Gratz Mastery Charter won’t reopen Tuesday as asbestos inspection continues

Gratz, in Nicetown, has been closed since last week. Officials have been repairing sections of asbestos with minor damage as an inspection proceeds, the Mastery Charter CEO said.

Exterior of Simon Mastery Gratz High School, 1798 Hunting Park Ave., Philadelphia.
Exterior of Simon Mastery Gratz High School, 1798 Hunting Park Ave., Philadelphia.Read moreAlejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

Simon Gratz Mastery Charter High School won’t reopen Tuesday, after all.

Mastery CEO Scott Gordon told families late Monday night that the Philadelphia School District had not completed its asbestos inspection early enough to assure it was safe for students to return Tuesday, as the charter organization had hoped.

But, Gordon wrote, “if there are no major incidents discovered, the district is on track to provide us with a report of their findings tomorrow. As previously noted, the district has been addressing and repairing any findings, which have been minor, as they go along.”

» READ MORE: Asbestos closes Simon Gratz Mastery Charter, the second district building this month

Gordon did not say in the message whether it was likely Gratz could reopen Wednesday.

The Gratz building is owned by the school system and operated by Mastery. It’s the second district-operated building to be closed because of damaged asbestos this month. Building 21, a district high school in West Oak Lane, is closed indefinitely, with its students now learning virtually.

Middle school students who attend Gratz were cleared to return to their portion of the building Monday.

Once Gratz High reopens, an inspection of the auditorium could continue, Gordon said. If that happens, the auditorium would be inaccessible to students and staff.