Video - Sandpoint school dealing with mold problem

November 22, 2006

Sandpoint school dealing with mold problem

KXLY - Spokane,WA

Annie Bishop / News4 Reporter

Last updated: Tuesday, November 21st, 2006 06:38:56 PM

sect_rank=3 & section_id=561 & story_id=6473

SANDPOINT, IDAHO -- A Sandpoint school is trying to get rid of a bad

infestation of mold that was discovered in a utility tunnel at

Farmin Stidwell Elementary School that has left two teachers and a

handful of kids sick.

The school district says having mold in one of its schools is not

uncommon given the schools' age and all the recent wet weather but

even so Pend Oreille School Superintendent Dick Cvitanich takes this

situation very seriously.

The mold was first discovered a week and a half ago after a teacher

smelled something unusual in a classroom.

" It was a real musty smell, mildewy, mold that sort of musty smell, "

Cvitanich said.

The smell led them to a concrete utility tunnel underneath the

school where an independent inspection crew discovered the mold.

" There was a fair amount … it wasn't like the whole wall was covered

in mold ... just a patchy type of situation, " he said.

The inspection crew sprayed the mold with a disinfectant called

Microban. They also discovered mold around a leaking water heater

near the school kitchen.

Two teachers got sick with complaints of heavy eye irritation,

scratchy throat and dizziness and three or four students were also

kept home last week.

The district sent home letters last Monday notifying parents with

asthmatic kids of the spray and mold, though some parents said they

would've liked more notice than they were given.

Superintendent Cvitanich says the mold is now cleaned up but a musty

smell continues to linger on the east end of the school. The most

recent air tests show elevated mold levels near the water heater and

normal air levels in the classrooms.

" What we are trying to is make sure we ID potential causes and try

to eliminate those causes, " Cvitanich said.

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