The Somerville building that will house students from a school shuttered due to rotting infrastructure has closed its summer programming early due to the “increasing disruption caused by the construction work currently underway there,” district officials said in a letter Friday.

Workers preparing the Edgerly administrative building for students and staffers from the tired Winter Hill Community Innovation School removed asbestos in window caulking, prompting concerns from staffers and parents.

Officials said they met with staff and families Friday to “assure them that the building was and remains safe to occupy” before they ultimately decided to cancel the remainder of summer school, which was slated to conclude Wednesday.

Relocating Winter Hill students to the Edgerly necessitated improvements to the administrative building’s roofing, masonry and window caulking to keep it “watertight,” officials said. The asbestos removed in the window caulking was described as a type that does not affect one’s health because it doesn’t release fibers easily, they said.

“We understand that the required signage, protective gear for crews, and containment structures used while conducting this work can be unsettling, and we should have informed staff and families in advance of the safety protocols in place,” officials wrote. “But we do wish to reassure our staff and families that at no time was there a risk of exposure to occupants of the building.”

The pre-kindergarten-grade 8 Winter Hill closed in June after a piece of concrete crumbled and fell onto a staircase inside the 95,000-square-foot building, constructed in 1975.

The incident prompted students to be out of class for four days before those in grades 1–8 transitioned into classrooms at Tufts University in Medford. Pre-K and kindergarten students, along with specialized programming, moved to other buildings in Somerville.

Officials announced after students were released for the summer that Winter Hill would remain closed for the 2023–24 school year, citing uncertainty around whether the school’s worn-out infrastructure would be secure enough for classes to proceed.

Initial inspection results shared with Herald showed “a systemic, wide-spread problem of water infiltration throughout the building, spanning decades rather than years.”

The City Council since has pumped millions of dollars into addressing the conditions at Winter Hill and ensuring the Edgerly will be ready to host the hundreds of students and teachers from the nearby school.

Office spaces are being converted to classrooms, while electrical systems for technology needs are being updated and the parking lot resurfaced to make way for a makeshift play area.

District officials initially looked to cancel summer programming for just Friday. But discomfort from staff and families prevailed, leading to the cancellation of the remaining three days .

“We do hope this closure will give our staff and families peace of mind,” officials wrote. “It will also allow our work to advance more rapidly so that we can welcome our Winter Hill students, teachers, and administration back to a school they can feel safe in and continue to learn in this fall.”