State to test air quality in Needham school

[Guest guest]

State to test air quality in Needham school

By Pazzanese, Globe Correspondent | May 25, 2006

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/05/25/state_to_test_ai

r_quality_in_needham_school/

Questions about contaminants such as mold, lead , and asbestos

inside Needham's High Rock School have prompted the state Department

of Public Health to conduct air quality tests in the building

tomorrow .

Boston.com

Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts ``We'll

go out and take a look " and meet with the town's Board of Health,

said Donna Rheaume, the department spokeswoman.

Rheaume said the visit is in response to a call from a parent who

complained about the deteriorating conditions inside the school --

which currently houses an after-school program -- and worried about

the potential health for students.

The School Committee intends to use the school as an interim

solution to an expected middle school enrollment bulge beginning in

fall 2008. The Pollard Middle School is already overcrowded and will

not be able to handle the estimated 1,150 students expected to be

middle schoolers in two years.

Rheaume said she ``couldn't speculate " on how long the tests would

take or what the department might do after the testing.

The state of High Rock and cost to fix the problems will be

discussed at the school board's June 6 meeting.