The strange saga of the new Oak Ridge Elementary School began with leaks and mold, continued for four years with increasing health symptoms among students and teachers, and may end in lawsuits.

The strange saga of the new Oak Ridge Elementary Schoolbegan with leaks and mold, continued for four years with increasing health symptoms among students and teachers, and may end in lawsuits.

Guilford County Schools on July 31 filed for an extension of the time in which it can sue Lyon Construction Inc. of Winston-Salem, the contractor who rebuilt Oak Ridge Elementary in 2005. Guilford County Board of Education attorney Jill Wilson said the school system also signed a tolling agreement with Clinton E. Gravely and Associates of Greensboro, the architect on the project.

Tolling agreements allow the parties to a potential lawsuit to waive their right to claim that the suit should be dismissed due to the expiration of a statute of limitations. Both of last week's actions effectively allow Guilford County Schools to file lawsuits after the statutory deadline.