Bells Mill Classrooms Closed After Reports of Mold, Illness

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Bells Mill Classrooms Closed After Reports of Mold, Illness

By Fredrick Kunkle

Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, March 1, 2006; Page B05

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

dyn/content/article/2006/02/28/AR2006022801388.html

Montgomery County's school district has closed two portable

classrooms at Bells Mill Elementary School and promised to replace

them this summer after teachers and parents complained that mold was

making people sick.

A third portable at the school also has been closed temporarily to

make repairs because of concerns about water contamination and mold,

Montgomery public schools spokesman said.

After receiving 12 complaints since the beginning of the school

year, officials decided Friday to move the 70 students who were

taking classes in the three portables, increasing crowding at the

Potomac school, said.

" It really affects the whole community, not just the kids in the

classroom, " said n Cantor, who has two sons in the school,

including a fifth-grader who was moved.

" The children and teachers that have been affected have had eye

irritations, rashes, sinus issues and respiratory issues. His

teacher has been sick on and off for several months. It's

stressful, " Cantor said.

Molds release spores that can trigger allergic reactions when people

breathe or ingest them. Common symptoms include coughing, congestion

and scratchy eyes. But some molds create spores that can be

dangerous for people who are sensitive to them or who are exposed to

large amounts.

To make room for the students from the portables, school officials

have moved one fourth-grade class into an art room, another fourth-

grade class into a classroom that had been used for a second-grade

reading program and a fifth-grade class into a portable that had

been used for music classes, said.

The head of the school's PTSA welcomed the step but said more needs

to be done.

" I am relieved that children won't be suffering allergic reactions,

but I remain concerned about the portables, " M. Rosenthal,

president of the Bells Mill PTSA, said yesterday. " We'd like to

replace all the portables. "

Many school districts in the Washington region have struggled over

the years with classrooms contaminated with mold. The experience at

Bells Mill underscores the Montgomery district's complicated efforts

to reduce class sizes, offer full-day kindergarten, deal with rising

attendance rolls and meet a budget.

For example, the school district's proposed budget for 2006-07

included plans to expand its full-day kindergarten program to 17

more schools next year.

The Board of Education voted Feb. 14 to accelerate the expansion of

all-day kindergarten to an additional 13 schools next year that

would otherwise not have had full-day kindergarten until 2008,

said.

Within such a context, using portables is the only realistic

solution, said.

" There's nothing wrong with going to school in a portable, " he said.

Bells Mill accounts for eight of the 719 modular classrooms that

Montgomery uses to accommodate about 15,000 students, said.

Each new modular classroom costs about $50,000, he said.

said the two portables at Bells Mill that were permanently

closed had been moved there from another school. But he said he

didn't know if there had been mold complaints at the other school.

At Bells Mill, complaints about crowding and the conditions in the

portables have persisted for some time, said Rosenthal, the Bells

Mill PTSA president.