Dracut board aiming to clear up 'rumors' over school's mold problem

[Guest guest]

Dracut board aiming to clear up 'rumors' over school's mold problem

Lowell Sun - Lowell,MA

By DENNIS SHAUGHNESSEY, Sun Staff

http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_4505619

DRACUT -- Like picking at a scab but never quite tearing it off,

members of the Dracut School Committee and administration members

took turns casting blame over the recent mold problems at the

Avenue School.

" The real problem here is with rumors that are twisting what went on

at a meeting last year, " said committee member ph ,

alluding to suggestions that the School Committee's finance

subcommittee knew about the problem in 2005 and did nothing about

it. " At that meeting, we were advised that there was a leaky roof

and we spoke briefly about the life expectancy of the modular

units. "

Two modular units at the school were demolished last month after

mold was discovered. The units housed two fourth-grade classrooms, a

library and a computer lab. Students have moved into the main

building, eliminating the use of the school cafeteria.

and committee member May Paquette, along with

Superintendent of Schools Elaine Espindle and Supervisor of

Buildings and Grounds Graham, visited the

school in September 2005.

" There were no issues at the time, " Paquette said. " There was a

musty smell. Kind of like when you open up summer camp. It didn't

seem like an important issue. It was more like just an odor. "

But Graham maintains that the committee was aware that potential

problems existed.

" I made those concerns known over the years, " Graham said. " I even

put it on the capital funding report to finance the removal and

replacement of that structure. Over the years we have done a lot of

work on that building. The roof. The floor. We replaced walls. The

rafters were wet. I took pictures. Did I ever see mold? No. But I

know that wet walls and floors usually result in a problem. I

reported it to the finance subcommittee. That's my job and that's

what I did. "

Much of the discussion centered around the events of last year when

the problem was brought up at a finance subcommittee meeting.

" We were asked by the School Committee to look at the cost issues

surrounding the modulars, " said, referring to the September

2005 meeting. " We brought those conversations back to the board. The

leaky roof and the musty smell was a 'by-the-way' discussion. "

School Committee Chairman Ron Mercier said that any information

about problems at the school should have been brought to the board.

" It seems to me that the subcommittee made the decision for the

entire board, " Mercier said. " It should have been brought to our

attention. If we would have had the entire group together at the

School, maybe somebody would have come up with the idea to

check for mold. You guys were privy to that information and we

weren't. "

" I was never informed of this and I was the chairman at the time, "

said committee member Mendonca.

Paquette said she was notified again last month that the roof was

leaking and that it could no longer be repaired.

" There was no discussion of mold issues, " she insisted. " Just the

fact that the roof was leaking. I was surprised to read it in the

paper. I'm really upset. I feel like we've been thrown under the bus

on this issue and that somehow we knew about it last year and told

the administration to just throw a fan under the modular. "

Paquette demanded a written record detailing the exact date when the

committee was first notified that mold existed at the school.

" I want to know who was notified, who reported it and who got the

report, " she said. " We asked for a timeline at our last meeting, but

I fail to see one as of yet. "

Espindle said she knew there were problems at the school on Sept. 11

and closed the modulars on Sept. 15.

" As soon as I knew that there was an issue and that people didn't

want to be in there, I took action, " she said, referring to the

closing of the modulars. " The finance subcommittee met on Monday,

Sept. 18, and you were informed then. "

" We asked for an update on the modulars and you said nothing about

the mold, " Paquette shot back.

Committee member Dennis " D.J. " Deeb said the problem stems from the

number of subcommittees that do not readily answer to the entire

board.

" It's almost as if we have a local bureaucracy, " Deeb said. " I know

that when I first heard about the mold, I was caught by surprise. "

Dennis Shaughnessey's e-mail address is dshaughnessey@....