Mold puts classes in a bind

[Guest guest]

Mold puts classes in a bind

Bob Stuart

The News Virginian

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

Virginia

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Recurring mold chased Waynesboro students home Monday from a

makeshift classroom and forced administrators to suspend classes for

the rest of the week.

The move by the alternative high school, called the Phoenix

Program, out of the temporary Avenue Baptist Church was a

precautionary measure, said Hart, director of Shenandoah

Valley operations for Environmental Investigations of Staunton.

Waynesboro Schools Superintendent Lowell Lemons said students and

staff were experiencing some adverse symptoms when they were sent

home Monday morning.

Hart said testing is being done on the mold. Air scrubbing machines

are being used to clean the air.

Hart said the spore count of mold inside the bottom floor of the

church, where Phoenix Program classes are held, was as high as

25,000 in recent days.

The mold count inside the building should not be more than three

times that of outside, Hart said. Mold counts just outside the

church were 100 to 200.

Hart said mold samples taken from the building have been sent to a

laboratory for evaluation.

In addition to the bottom floor, Hart said the top floor of the

church, where the sanctuary sits, also has been tested.

Samples will take 14 days to come back, she said.

" We want to find out if the mold is viable or nonviable, and if it

is on the first floor,'' she said of the sanctuary floor.

Mold first was detected at the Avenue Baptist Church in

December, after Phoenix Program employees complained of a musty odor.

Lemons said the immediate issue was to remove the high mold counts

from the building.

He and School Board Chairwoman Lorie said the school district

then must decide whether to stay at the church or look for another

site.

" We have to look at the possibility of an alternative site,''

said. " We are not willing to keep battling increased mold counts

every few weeks. "

Lemons said the key question is whether the school district can

satisfactorily lower the mold counts at the facility.

The superintendent said this week's loss of Phoenix Program classes

can be made up by using teacher workdays later in the semester, and

by taking advantage of other time available for makeup.

The church is being used for the next year and a half as a temporary

site while the renovation of Kate Middle School takes place.

Kate students are being housed at the Wayne Hills Center,

where the Phoenix Program generally meets.

The Phoenix Program serves students in grades 10-12. Some need to

catch up on Standards of Learning requirements, while others have

scheduling issues or discipline problems at Waynesboro High.

said problems with the church site are unfortunate.

" This is very disappointing to us,'' she said. " This is a part of

the project we were counting on. "

Lemons said it is frustrating, " because we were getting good air

samples a few weeks ago. "

He said the school district would look at alternative spaces,

including office space Waynesboro City Councilman Reo Hatfield is

willing to offer.

Hatfield said he would temporarily house the Phoenix Program at

vacant offices on the second floor of his business, Reo Distribution.

The business is on Solutions Way, off Hopeman Parkway.

" I have plenty of wide open office space,'' he said.

Hatfield said he would not require rent, just payment of the

electric bill.

Contact Bob Stuart at bstuart@....