St. East High School - Proposal on school with mold draws fire

[Guest guest]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/metro/dupage/article/0,2669,SAV-010628033

9,FF.html

Proposal on school with mold draws fire

Parents question plan to reopen St. East

By LeAnn Spencer

Tribune staff Reporter

June 28, 2001

Some parents on Wednesday appeared skeptical of a $4.8 million proposal to

repair part of shuttered St. East High School, add portable

classrooms and open a portion of the building in mid-September.

The proposal was presented to a committee of the Kane County Regional Office

of Education by Community School District 303 Supt. Francis Kostel and a

district engineer. The committee includes about a dozen community leaders,

parents and teachers.

" Portable classrooms scattered around are not the best solution, " said

advisory committee member Froisland. " I don't see a great educational

climate over at East " under this proposal.

Parent Bell said she feared the district was proposing little more

than a patch job.

Bell, who is not on the committee but joined about two dozen observers at

the meeting, said, " I've been following this and been frustrated by it for

15 years. Nobody has listened, and I'm afraid they're not going to listen

now. "

Any plan to correct a mold problem at the school must be approved by Clem

Mejia, Kane County regional superintendent of schools. Mejia has promised to

choose a course of action as soon as possible after seeking the advice of

his community advisory committee.

The presence of mold forced the closure of St. East in the beginning

of April. Students and teachers finished the school year in the district's

other high school.

Mold is known to cause health problems in susceptible individuals, including

those with impaired immune systems or mold allergies.

Under the school district's proposal, only the Dunham wing of the school

would be opened for classes this fall. The rest of the building would remain

closed to allow the school district time to weigh other repair options or

consider demolishing and rebuilding the entire structure.

Kostel said the wing could be ready for occupancy by mid-September or early

October. Twenty-seven portable classrooms would add space, but an estimated

500 incoming freshmen would still have to attend classes at the district's

other high school.

Proposed repairs to the Dunham wing include replacing the heating and

ventilation system, ceiling tiles and some walls, and a gym floor, plus

tuckpointing and waterproofing.

District officials have said that it would cost about $10.5 million to

repair and remodel all of St. East, including the Dunham wing. An

entirely new building would cost $40 million to $69 million.

The district's proposal is the latest in a series of reports on conditions

in the high school. It comes on the heels of two highly critical studies

citing numerous flaws in the building as well as lax maintenance standards

and poor construction.

A report by state architect for the Illinois State Board of

Education noted lapses in waterproofing and construction, from missing

flashing around windows to lack of drainage tiles in soil surrounding the

building.

The state report further suggested that a $5.6 million repair in 1998 was

poorly or improperly done because mold has returned.

In addition, a report by school district consultant AAA Environmental of

South Carolina said that maintenance in the school had been so inept that it

was hard to determine what had gone wrong in the building.