School closed until fall for mold cleanup

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School closed until fall for mold cleanup

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

By Terry Judd

CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-

5/1139327124155450.xml & coll=8

Muskegon,MI

Eliminating a mold problem in the vacated Ferry Elementary School

will require the removal of insulation panels from window openings

and will not be completed until the fall, Grand Haven school

officials said Monday.

Interim Superintendent Konarska told the Grand Haven school

board that students and staff vacated last month from Ferry

Elementary, 1050 Pennoyer in Grand Haven, will not return to the

school until the beginning of the 2006-07 school year.

Konarska said he has been meeting with a number of contractors to

discuss options for the school, including removing insulation panels

installed over window openings in the 1970s to conserve energy and

replacing them with energy efficient windows. He said by vacating

the school, work can begin during the remainder of the school year

and should be completed by fall.

" This puts us in the optimistic position of getting the school ready

in the fall for kids, " he said.

Konarska said it is too early to present rough cost estimates for

the repairs.

Last month, school officials decided to shift 330 students and staff

of 77-year-old Ferry Elementary to the vacant Ferrysburg Elementary

School, 17290 Roosevelt, because of a persistent mold problem. The

40 preschoolers in Ferry's Michigan School Readiness Program were

relocated to Central High School, 106 S. Sixth.

The school district made its decision to vacate Ferry Elementary

after reviewing the results of air tests and core samples taken in

January. Although air tests taken came back clean, 10 core samples

taken from exterior walls in the older portion of the school

revealed a moisture problem in the majority of samples and mold in

half of the samples. Konarska said there were no reported health

problems from students or staff related to the mold problem. But

because Ferrysburg Elementary was available, district officials

decided to vacate Ferry Elementary so they immediately would work to

eliminate the mold without disrupting school.

He said the cost of the move, including the rental of semitrailers

and increased busing expenses, was $23,474, an amount the district's

budget can absorb.

Dave Lutkenhoff, owner of Environmental Health Resources in Grand

Rapids, told the school board that tests conducted by his company

and an independent lab found significant moisture in the foam panels

installed in window openings. He said five of the 10 samples taken

from panels revealed stachybotrys and ulocladium molds. These molds

also were found in classroom No. 12, where the school staff first

found mold on wallboard under a blackboard in December. The school's

staff scrubbed and repainted the area, but the mold returned,

prompting school officials to authorize tests.

Lucktenhoff said the medical and scientific community remains

divided on the potential health problems mold poses, but mold spores

and mold byproducts can create allergic reactions with some persons.

He said by vacating the building, the district eliminated any

potential health problems and made it easier to conduct tests and

address the mold problem.

During Monday's meeting, the school board thanked staff, parents

custodians and bus drivers who made the move to Ferrysburg

Elementary possible. Konarska also was praised by school board

President Houghtaling for his leadership during the move.

Officials said the transition to Ferrysburg Elementary, now known as

Ferry North, has gone well. The biggest problem has been the lack of

playground equipment, which was dismantled this past summer after

Ferrysburg Elementary School was shuttered because of declining

enrollment. The school was built in 1954 and was used until last

June for kindergarten through second-grade students.

The school district eventually wants to sell the school and received

a bid last month of $950,000 from the city of Ferrysburg for the

building and the surrounding 8 acres. City officials said they want

to convert a portion of the school into a new city hall and

community center and to develop the land for parks and recreational

facilities.

The sale was delayed after the mold problem surfaced at Ferry

Elementary.