Mold has been found growing inside the walls of Kilby Shores Elementary School’s music and art rooms, according to a letter sent home to parents by school principal Lorri Banks Thursday.

The issue began around 7:30 a.m. April 22, the day students returned from spring break, when Suffolk Public Schools’ Facilities Department was notified of standing water in the music room.

Sometime during spring break — schools were closed from April 15-19 — a water line failed in the HVAC unit that services the music room, according to the letter, which caused water to be pumped into the room for an unknown period, with water also flowing into the adjoining art room.

While the failed pipe was repaired shortly after finding out about the issue and the rooms sealed off, subsequent moisture readings from the carpet and walls in both rooms found that drying was not satisfactory, the letter stated. ServPro, the contractor for the water extraction and drying services, found water seeping into the drywall about two feet above the floor.

That forced ServPro to expand the scope of its work to drywall and carpet removal, the letter stated, and the contractor found mold growing inside the wall cavity.

“ServPro’s scope was again expanded to removal of all drywall in both the music and art room showing any sign of mold growth,” the letter stated.

The contractor removed drywall up to about three feet above the floor. On Monday, ServPro expanded the scope of its work to look at the wall cavity above the horizontal framing member and take out any drywall above the framing member that showed any signs of mold growth.

“This removal work continues,” Thursday’s letter states.

When all the drywall is removed, Taylor Enterprises will replace it and. paint both rooms, and when all the wall work is finished, Cherry Carpet will replace the carpet in the music room, and if necessary, replace the tile in the art room, according to the letter.

“As an added precaution, we have contracted Marine Chemist to take random assessments for air quality throughout the school,” Banks wrote. “Once testing is complete, the report might take about two weeks before it is released to our Facilities Department.”

The letter also has an attachment from the Environmental Protection Agency outlining what people should know about mold.