School to face more mold tests

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Wednesday, January 11, 2006

School to face more mold tests

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20060111/METRO01/601110377/1006

New round planned at Dearborn's to allay fears about musty

odor that began last year.

Darren A. Nichols / The Detroit News

Jan. 23: School board will review the qualifications of Boelter &

Yates Inc. and Partridge Consulting.

Feb. 13: A decision on an environmental firm could be made.

Upcoming: More environmental testing at Middle School.

DEARBORN -- School officials plan to commission a second round of

environmental testing at Middle School, where some parents

say mold and odors have sickened their children.

The school board is set to review applications Jan. 23 from Park

Ridge, Ill.-based Boelter & Yates Inc. and Partridge

Consulting of Birmingham on their credentials for conducting the

testing. If members have no further questions, a firm could be

chosen at the Feb. 13 meeting.

Three other experts have reviewed data originally taken by Testing

Engineers and Consultants Inc. of Rochester. Each said the building

is safe, but some parents aren't convinced.

" We continue to work on this problem, bringing in additional medical

experts, now bring in additional environmental teams to get this

problem solved, " district spokesman Mustonen said Tuesday.

" Obviously, hundreds of kids are going to that school with no

problems. (But) whether it's five or 10 or hundreds, whatever that

number of students it is, it's important to correct that problem.

Otherwise, we would have stopped long ago. "

Mustonen said the district has spent more than $100,000 since the

issue first surfaced in fall 2004.

He was unable to estimate how much the new set of environmental

testing would cost the school district.

Complaints of a musty smell started more than a year ago and were

followed by concerns that mold could be causing students' headaches

and respiratory problems.

In fall 2004, the middle school, which has about 650 students, was

tested for environmental hazards. Samples taken found no signs of

airborne mold spores.

The most recent expert to review the data was Rosenman, a

Michigan State University professor and national expert on

occupational and environmental medicine.

While saying the school is safe, Rosenman recommended that students

and staff who suffer from asthma be allowed to transfer to another

building.

He further recommended monitoring the building's 10 separate

ventilation systems.

Rosenman's report was discussed at Monday's school board meeting.

" It seem like they are going to go ahead and do (the environmental

study). I would be very disappointed if they didn't proceed with the

next step. It's necessary, " said parent Wendzinski, whose

daughter may attend in the fall.

" I'm starting to feel like we are spinning our wheels. Some of us

are looking at some other option (like leaving the district), unless

they get going in fixing it. "

You can reach Darren A. Nichols at (734) 462-2190 or

dnichols@....