Sick School Series

[Guest guest]

http://www.nstu.ns.ca/aviso/Fall98/teacher.html

If you missed this series on sick schools - it is still available.

My favorite article is the one written from a parent's point of view.

A Parent's Perspective on Sick Schools

by Larry Horton

Anyone who has followed the news in the last year may remember that Duncan

MacMillan High School in Sheet Harbour was closed in late October, 1997, due

to air quality problems. The students, my daughter among them, were

transported to Moser River, a 25-minute bus ride.

This caused a lot of hardship for the students. Because of the increased

numbers at the junior high and senior high levels, students were forced to

attend classes on a split shift. The Moser River school had limited space,

resulting in overcrowding. It also lacked the resources, like labs and a

gym, to run the type of programs that the DMHS students were used to. Still,

even though the conditions were difficult, most of the Sheet Harbour

students and teachers felt better once the move to Moser River took place.

The only complaint, really, was the lack of space.

In the previous year, staff and students at Duncan MacMillan High School had

been through a lot. Many people had become very sick from being in the

building. The major concerns included headaches, sore throats, breathing

problems, asthma-like symptoms and constant fatigue. In preliminary testing,

we discovered that the humidity in the classrooms was far too low, and the

heat was far too high.

In addition, there were higher than normal levels of carbon dioxide in the

classrooms. Parents met with school board officials, lobbying them to

install a ventilation system in the school that would address the carbon

dioxide levels, temperature and humidity.

Yet every time we turned around, we met obstacles. We involved local

politicians, council members and even our federal Member of Parliament. On

two occasions, we were promised by the chief executive officer of the school

board that we would have a ventilation system of some sort installed in the

school. This never came to pass.

As students and staff got sicker and sicker, we had no choice but to push to

have the school closed until the problems could be resolved.

That was no easy task. The field of testing for sick building syndrome, we

learned, is not an exact science. The school was visited by numerous

" experts. " Each one claimed to have identified the source of the problem and

gave the parents and faculty assurances that the school was safe. And yet

each time it seemed safe to go back into the school, another area of the

building would suddenly develop problems with molds.

Finally, our staff and students were given the green light to return to the

Sheet Harbour school in March. From a parent's perspective, we were rather

skeptical that the school was safe. However, the school board had completed

a major overhaul of the heating system, which helped to reduce the heat in a

lot of the classrooms. There were several areas where mold had been located

and removed, and the walls, windows and ceiling tiles were replaced.

There is no question that the school board did spend money to correct

contributing factors; however, it did not completely solve the problem. We

still had teachers who had to be transferred out of the school, and we still

have students who are ill. We also have teachers and students who may never

be able to return to DMHS to teach or learn. And after everything that has

been said and done, we still have mold showing up in testing.

In the interim, we have learned a number of lessons. When it comes to sick

schools, there is no easy fix. No one has all the answers, and it is an

uphill battle to try and get your school fixed.

Having been through this difficult process, however, I can offer one

important suggestion to those who find themselves in similar circumstances.

Ensure that you document everything, including all details of complaints:

the identity of the complainant, symptoms, time of day, what the weather was

like, trips to the doctor, and letters from doctors explaining the symptoms

being treated. In addition, have everyone with a complaint keep a diary of

how he or she feels each day. Although this may seem like a lot of work, it

is extremely important; many " sick school " experts demand documentation.

One expert who was brought into our school asked for this kind of

documentation; despite the very real difficulties we had experienced, none

of the details had been put in writing. The expert's reply to this was:

" Then I have no reason to believe there is anything wrong with this

building. " The lesson learned? Document anything which will show you are

having problems.

Our experience also taught us that the involvement of parents is vital in

safeguarding children's health and safety in school. As parents, it is our

job to ensure that our children have a healthy school, and to insist that

the school board staff and politicians are vigilant in their efforts to

provide them with a basic right: the right to a healthy education.

Larry Horton is a parent representative on the School Advisory Council of

Duncan MacMillan High School, Halifax Regional School Board.