Officials awaiting results of mold testing at Sullivan Middle School

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Updated when news breaks - Jan. 10 2006, 11:42 AM

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Officials awaiting results of mold testing at Sullivan Middle School

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

By CARMEN MUSICK

Times-News

Kingsport,TN

http://www.timesnews.net/article.dna?_StoryID=3588512

KINGSPORT - Sullivan County school officials are awaiting the

results of mold testing conducted at Sullivan Middle School by an

independent firm.

County schools' maintenance supervisor Joe Mike Akard said he

expects the results will confirm what in-house testing has shown -

that there is not a problem with mold at the middle school.

" We didn't have a problem in the locker room, and we don't have a

problem in the library either, in my opinion. But, just to be safe

and make the teachers and parents feel at ease, we hired an

independent testing firm to take some lab tests, " Akard said Monday.

Wingfield Environmental conducted the tests in the school library

last week, Akard said. The results are expected to be available

later this week.

Akard said he hired Wingfield Environmental to conduct the mold

testing in the school library amid growing concerns from parents and

teachers.

The county school maintenance department routinely, and upon

suspicion or by request, tests for mold and did so last year at

Sullivan Middle School when a renovation project revealed a black

substance in a ceiling area.

" We stopped construction and tested it (with our people) at that

time, " Akard said, " And I also had the room above it upstairs

tested. "

It was not mold, Akard said, however the testing sparked some

concern.

" Some of the teachers and some of the parents too, I guess, saw us

testing and were concerned that there was a mold problem in the

library, " he said.

" The librarian felt like there was some mold on some books in there,

and we did test those books. Our testing showed nothing out of the

limits. But in order to make them feel better, they wanted an

independent mold test done, and I have hired Wingfield Environmental

to take some samples. "

" We try to be proactive, " Akard added. " Any time a parent or student

or teacher requests mold sampling, we go out and test. Of our 28

schools, we've tested every one of them at one time or another, and

some of them two or three times.

" If we have a problem, we want to know about it because our first

priority is the children and the teachers in our school system. "