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ELGIN, Ill. — Three schools will remained closed Thursday in School District U-46 after legionella bacteria was detected Wednesday morning.

During an annual air quality testing of school cooling towers in Elgin, higher than normal levels of Legionella bacteria was found at Eastview Middle, Larkin High, and at the Central Office/Gifford Street High.

The CEO Tony Sanders made the decision to close those buildings immediately.

In a statement released Wednesday evening,  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 re-open these sites Friday after we repeat the cleaning process.”

Today’s decision to close these three buildings was based on test results on the quality of water used in the cooling towers for those three sites. Test results received Wednesday morning showed that the three sites had levels that were higher than normal levels of Legionella bacteria, according to the statement.