The former Mexico police station building, seen Oct. 22, is one of the building sites the Regional School Unit 10 board of directors unanimously approved Wednesday to house Mountain Valley Middle School students for in-person classrooms. Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times file

RUMFORD — The Regional School Unit 10 board of directors unanimously approved Wednesday a lease from the town of Mexico for the district’s use of the former Mexico police station on Recreation Drive to house middle school classrooms.

The building will house Mountain Valley Middle School sixth graders, who switched to online learning Oct. 15.

The middle school at 58 Highland Terrace was closed Oct. 8 after air quality tests showed high levels of mold. The school serves 366 students in grades five to eight.

In a letter posted on the RSU 10 website on Thursday, Superintendent Deb Alden said the district has “a building plan approved by the (Office of State Fire Marshal) and the Department of Education has approved Landry-French (construction company) to complete the improvements that are required (for the 3 Recreation Drive building.)”

“The Town of Mexico has allowed us to begin this process. If all goes well we will be ready to bring our 6th grade back to in-person learning at this facility on Monday, January 6, 2025,” Alden wrote.

MVMS fifth graders returned to in-person learning at Rumford Elementary School on Dec. 3 and seventh and eighth grade students returned to in-person learning at Mountain Valley High School on Dec. 16, according to Alden.