MONROE TWP. -- A Gloucester County school district will close all of its schools for the remainder of the week to test for mold and clean one school that is already confirmed to be contaminated with the substance.

More than 6,000 students are affected by the sudden closure of all six Monroe Township schools.

A message sent to parents indicates the closure is a precautionary measure to allow contractors to inspect air quality in each building.

"While we realize this may be an inconvenience, we are acting in the best interests of our school family," according to the statement. "We have heard your concerns and are actively working to address them."

Testing at Holly Glen Elementary School last week revealed a mold contamination problem that required temporary closure of the building.

After announcing that closure last Thursday, district officials vowed to also test the other five schools.

Over the weekend, the district announced an emergency school board meeting for tonight to update parents and students on the situation.

The announcement that all six schools would close for the week was made Monday afternoon in an automated call to parents. Schools were already closed Monday for a teacher in-service, but staff was told over the weekend they did not have to report today.

After announcing last week that Holly Glen would close immediately and that its 537 students would be transferred to three other schools within the district, open houses were planned for Monday night so that kids could check out their new temporary schools.

That plan was then canceled and the emergency board meeting was announced for 7 p.m. at the high school.

An inspection conducted by TTI Environmental Inc. on Oct. 2 found "mold/fungal proliferation" in several Holly Glen classrooms, the library and a common area. Mold was found on doors, desks, book cases, lockers, a toy case and ceiling tiles, the company noted in an Oct. 4 report to the district.

On Friday, parents also told 6ABC that workers at the township middle school were seen removing mold-tainted ceiling tiles while classes were in session. School officials have not confirmed a mold problem at the middle school.

The heads of unions representing district teachers and secretaries have released a statement taking issue with claims that the Holly Glen mold concerns are relatively new.

"In fact, concerns about air quality at Holly Glen Elementary School date not to earlier this year, but to 2012 when our joint Health and Safety Committee first broached them," according to Jeremy Fau, president of the Monroe Township Education Association, and Karen Collins, head of the Monroe Township Association of Education Secretaries.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.