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Officials deal with mold at Yellow Branch Elementary School - Lynchburg, Va

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http://www.newsadvance.com/MGBJN29Z5QC.html

Aug 8, 2001 - 11:34 PM

Officials deal with mold

By Sykes

The News & Advance

YELLOW BRANCH - Work crews are finishing up the eradication of stachybotrys

mold at Yellow Branch Elementary School, and County school

officials said Wednesday the project will be completed before teachers

return to work Aug. 20.

But parents and county officials voiced concern at the lack of communication

concerning the mold.

So far no notice about the mold or cleanup has been sent to all parents of

students at the school.

Supervisors with Tri-Dim, the firm handling the cleanup, will meet with the

executive board of the Yellow Branch PTA at 1 p.m. today, according to

School Superintendent Nolley.

School officials declared a state of emergency at Yellow Branch Elementary

on July 19 and sent out letters to the parents of about 40 students who

attended summer school there. Students carried the letters home with them

after attending classes at Yellow Branch the following day.

The letter informed parents of the " need to remove mold from some areas of

the building, " and said that beginning July 23 students would attend classes

at Rustburg Elementary School.

The state of emergency declaration was posted in the County

courthouse on July 20, and stated the board took the action " due to certain

molds and substances that may be a health hazard. "

Rustburg Supervisor Hugh Pendleton, a former school principal, said he first

heard about the existence of the mold at a school in his district by reading

it Wednesday in The News & Advance.

Nolley said the decision to inform a limited number of parents was made

because of transportation concerns with the change in summer school venues.

" It was a transportation matter as much as anything else, " Nolley said. " I

wanted them to know the pick-up and drop-off times. It was a maintenance

issue as well. We didn't see it as anything to make a big splash over. When

we picked up on it, school was already out. We knew we could have it removed

by the time teachers returned. Maybe it was poor judgment on my part, but I

felt it was a maintenance issue more than anything else. "

Fariss, the mother of current and former students at the school, said

she heard about the mold problem from the parents of summer school students.

" That's the only reason I know, " she said. " Those parents told other parents

the children had been moved. "

School officials said Tuesday that mold had been discovered at Yellow Branch

in June. On July 18, test results revealed the mold was determined to be the

same stachybotrys mold that shut down Bedford County's Jefferson Forest High

School April 27, more than a month before the end of the school year.

But Fariss said mold has been visible at the school for a while.

" I can't say it was stachybotrys, but there has always been mold, " she said.

" We've talked about it several times. Some classrooms reek of mold. I think

there has been a problem much longer than they think. "

Her older son, now in middle school, had constant asthma and allergy

problems during his four years at the school.

" He still has allergies, but it is better, " Fariss said. " It's just a stuffy

nose now, it isn't the coughing and the nosebleeds. You can't say it was the

mold, but when they say there hasn't been a problem, I think the parents

just weren't making the correlation to the school. "

Nolley said that mold has been a problem at other County schools

over the years.

Brookville High School had a constant mold problem before the ventilation

system and the roof were replaced 10 years ago, he said.

" I know we had mold at that time, " Nolley said. " Whether it was this same

thing, I don't know. I think we're more concerned about this type of thing

now. "

At more than 30 years old, Yellow Branch is next in line for remodeling by

the school system. The School Board has approved a request for proposal for

a feasibility study for work at Yellow Branch, but the remodeling work is

about two years away, according to Craig Brewer, director of buildings and

grounds for the schools.

Brewer said the majority of the cleaning at the school was completed and

crews would begin reinstalling ceiling tiles and insulation soon.

Several factors kept the Yellow Branch cleanup costs to about $80,000,

Brewer said.

The size of the school, 44,300 square feet, and its composition kept the

cleanup expense far less than that faced by Bedford County's cleanup of

Jefferson Forest.

Jefferson Forest is 162,000 square feet.

No mold had penetrated the walls at Yellow Branch, Brewer said, whereas

Jefferson Forest's walls had been infested by the stachybotrys mold.

" Our walls are painted block, " Brewer said. " There is no where for it to go

but to stay on the surface. "

Anabac, a chemical used to kill the mold, was sprayed on surfaces and into

the building's duct work, Brewer said.

" Our school will be as clean as theirs, " Brewer said. " We will get rid of

the mold. "

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