Parents: mold may still be at school

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Parents: mold may still be at school

Souderton Independent - Souderton,PA

By Jerilyn Covert, Staff writer

07/19/2006

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?

newsid=16940308 & BRD=1306 & PAG=461 & dept_id=187822 & rfi=6

A summer visit to the modular classrooms at West Broad Street

Elementary reveals stacked desks, mounds of children's books, boxes

of colorful school supplies and a musky scent.

However, Tools for Schools committee member , who

visited those rooms during a group walk-through inspection in June,

told Souderton Area School Board members last week that the rooms,

well - they stink.

Now, she and other parents have raised concerns that the smell could

indicate the presence of mold. The alleged cause is water runoff

pooling beneath the modular section of the school, which sits

downhill from an existing housing development.

" If you think about it, mold is caused because of standing water, "

said Jenn Rafter, who has three young children one of whom attends

West Broad. " Standing water creates a problem, and when there's

standing water with nowhere to go, it creates mold. "

Rafter is also a member of the Tools for Schools committee, a group

of parents and school staff established several months ago through

the Environmental Protection Agency to work together on the project

of air quality at the school.

The group liaison from the EPA, Cristina Schulingkamp, led the group

on a walk-through inspection of the school in June. After about 25

minutes in the modular section, Rafter says she experienced an

asthmatic reaction that became so severe she was forced to leave in

a fit of wheezes.

Rafter is allergic to, among other things, mold. Her body's reaction

to the environment inside the modulars leads her to believe that

mold is growing nearby, and she's expressed her concern at the last

two school board meetings.

Rafter and five others took turns at the podium Thursday night

urging the school board to look into the possible drainage and mold-

related problems at the school.

" I'm very concerned about the recent mold, " said f Ozer, father

of two West Broad students both of whom have issues with asthma.

Ozer said that he has knowledge of mold and remarked that it's very

difficult to kill. " Is the mold going to come back next year? Is it

going to be in a room my kids are going to be in? "

Mold was discovered in three rooms - Room 41, Room 22 and the

library - last summer. School personnel cleaned each room thoroughly

in July and two independent agencies, JMSI Environmental Corp. and

Indoor Air Solutions, later tested them with acceptable results.

" Since last July, there hasn't been mold, " said Superintendent

Amuso.

This year, carpet in six out of 20 rooms at West Broad will be

replaced with tile flooring, including the one remaining carpeted

full-size room in the modular section, according to Gallagher,

SASD director of pupil services, who is involved with Tools for

Schools.

School board President MacDougall said a plan to replace all

the carpeting in the district with tile has been going on for the

past two years. Under the program, all the carpet floors in the

district eventually would be eliminated.

The board voted at the last meeting to cut $40,000 from the 2006-07

budget for carpet replacement, which will delay the program at West

Broad, among other schools. It was one of a few possible cuts the

board debated for over an hour June 22.

" It's fiscally impossible for the school to replace all the carpets

in the district in one year, " MacDougall pointed out.

" But shouldn't West Broad be a high priority? " Ozer replied. " West

Broad rooms should be at the top. "

MacDougall said the board would direct the administration to see if

there's water beneath the modulars, but also pointed out that's a

separate issue from mold.

He repeated what other district officials said that night - that

there is no mold in the building.

" The presupposition I'm hearing tonight is that there is a mold

problem, " said SASB member Jack Parry. " To the contrary, there is

not a mold problem. It's not that we think there is a mold problem

and we just don't care. "

Sherri said that three of her children had to be transferred

out of West Broad for health reasons. Though her oldest daughter no

longer suffers from asthma, she continues to be hypersensitive to

bacteria.

" We really need to be serious about this, " said. " If you have

a building that has a moisture issue, which we have, you will never

get rid of the mold and bacteria problems until the moisture issue

is solved. "

West Broad mother le Massina suggested that though the rooms

were tested in the fall, another test should be conducted now just

in case the mold has returned.

She was told that further testing is not needed, but inspections by

various parties are a regular occurrence.

Gallagher said that the Tools for Schools committee is undergoing

training on a check-list inspection system to continually monitor

conditions at the school.

Additionally, Glenn Keller, the supervisor of buildings and grounds,

whose job requires him to visit all the schools every day, conducts

visits to West Broad twice daily.

" Because of what happened last year, " Gallagher said, " we're making

sure it doesn't repeat itself. "

Gallagher said that some water had collected underneath the modulars

but has since dried up. School staff continues to investigate the

possible causes of standing water and the effect of a butterfly

garden on the grounds. The school is following the recommendations

of the EPA and the department of health, and is looking at vendors

for vacuums to clean up the rooms.

" We are taking this very seriously, " Gallagher said. " I think about

it every day and have made visits to West Broad the last few weeks. "

On the occurrence of health problems at the school, board member Bud

remarked that information garnered on nurse office visits

show that West Broad does not have any higher instance of problems

than any other school.

Still, parents remained unconvinced. " [After] going to speak with an

allergist, [i believe] there pretty much is mold under there, "

Rafter told the board. " Don't tell me there's no mold up there.

There's something. "

Rafter told the board members they'd made a mistake in cutting

$40,000 from the 2006-07 budget for carpet replacement. She pointed

out that the Tools for Schools committee was formed to help monitor

the environment at the school, and has done just that. She said

she's not trying to blame anyone; she just wants the complaint to be

taken seriously.

" I'm very upset about this, " Rafter said. " My child is there every

day, and you're sitting there telling me there's no mold. "

The modular classrooms were added onto the school about 10 years ago

to make room for the increasing student population. Connected to the

main building via a walkway, the modular addition houses, among

other programs, fifth grade classes and music and instrumental

lessons.

Near the end of the meeting MacDougall assured parents that the

district would continue in its due diligence on the modular issue,

adding, " We're not going to put kids in harm's way. "