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Watch the tv news story on video and read the stories: wealthy CT town's school portables, where students were relocated three years ago, due to an aging, moldy school that was demolished and is being rebuilt, now have been found to have mold in their walls. The children have had school cancelled for a week, while this Greenwich school district figures out what to do! Twice moldy school buildings leads us to think about preventative maintenance being stepped up in this town's schools .... We do commend the district for prompt removal of the children, once the mold was found. (SMH)
Greenwich superintendent takes responsibility for closed school
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-hamilton18mar05,0,5014252.story
By Andrew Shaw
Staff Writer
Published March 5 2008
GREENWICH - Betty Sternberg, the town's superintendent of schools realizes her job could be in jeopardy if the Board of Education decides she did not do enough to prevent the mold problems at the temporary buildings for Hamilton Avenue School.
"The bottom line is, the buck stops here," Sternberg said.
Classes were canceled this week after mold was found in the temporary modular units behind Western Middle School, where Hamilton Avenue School is holding classes as its permanent building undergoes renovation. Air quality tests revealed no mold in the air, and no health problems have been reported by students, but Sternberg told parents she wanted to be cautious and move students to other schools for the rest of the school year.
Board member Michael Bodson, who serves as a liaison on town facilities committees, said the board will investigate what led to the mold problem, including how the building was acquired three years ago and what maintenance was performed by the district.
"We will hold people accountable. Obviously, we want to understand if all the right things were done," Bodson said. "But we're not going to simply point fingers."
An environmental consultant Sternberg hired for the air quality test said the mold was created by a design flaw in the modular building that caused a leak to develop. The district's maintenance of the building was not an issue, according to the consultant.
The board is hiring its own consultant to investigate if there was gross negligence by the district by ignoring maintenance. If the mold problems could have been prevented by the district, Sternberg said the board would be within their rights to fire her.
"I embrace the responsibility I have," Sternberg said. "If it's shown there has been gross negligence, they have that right."
But jobs could be in jeopardy on Sternberg's staff as well, if she finds that someone did not fulfill their duties.
"I'll hold the staff accountable," Sternberg promised.
Sternberg said she and her staff have been in non-stop meetings since 6 a.m. Saturday, when they were alerted to the problem. After talking to the community at an emergency meeting on Monday night, school officials spent yesterday trying to work out the logistics of splitting up students, primarily how they will bus the students to their new schools.
"That's the biggest hurdle right now. A lot of other decisions hinge on busing," Sternberg said. School officials expect some decisions on busing to be made by mid-day today.
Since the district canceled school this week for Hamilton Avenue School students while they figure out a plan, there's also the issue of child care. The Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich opened early yesterday to take in children of parents who were caught off-guard by the closure and did not have child care. The programs, which are to continue through the week, are recreational and do not include academics.
Sternberg said that tutoring is not being offered this week for the students because of the lack of time to set it up. But once students return to school there will be extra social workers and psychologists to help students adjust to their new surroundings, she said.
Hamilton Avenue parents are upset that their lives and their children's lives are in disarray, said Dawn Nethercott, school PTA co-president.
"We definitely want accountability. I want to know where the system failed," Nethercott said.
Sternberg said that she also would not be surprised if upset school parents filed a lawsuit over the closure.
"We're in a litigious society. It's their right to do that," Sternberg said.
Copyright © 2008, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.
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http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=5996030
Students being relocated
Eyewitness News
GREENWICH (WABC) -- got to URL above to watch the tv news video and to comment on this topic
A school in Connecticut was shut down because of mold. The Hamilton Avenue School will be closed all week while school officials try figure out where to hold classes.
The mold was found inside the walls of modular classrooms at the elementary school in Greenwich.
Eyewitness News reporter Marcus Solis has the story.
This discovery has caused all sorts of concerns for parents. They are worried about their children's health, as well as finding child care alternatives for the time off.
Story continues belowAdvertisementIt is an unexpected week off from school, and the kids are having fun. Their parents? Well, that's another matter.
"It makes it very difficult to find somewhere to put my children," parent Lisa Horch.
On Saturday, the Greenwich Board of Education closed down Hamilton Avenue Elementary after mold was discovered in the ceilings. Environmental crews in protective suits have been working to rid the building of the potential health hazard.
The school is actually a temporary facility, a modular unit built three years ago to house 370 students while a brand new school is under construction.
The original building was shut down three years ago because of, you guessed it, mold. Monday morning, more than a dozen parents protested outside of board of education headquarters.
"They're furious," PTA co-chair Dawn Nethercott said. "It shouldn't be happeneing again. We left our old school because of mold, and it's happening all over. There's no contingency plan."
Among the signs this morning, one read "Rich town, poor school."
Parents say West Hamilton has been neglected because it is in the working class, less affluent section of Greenwich.
"We are not the multi-million dollar finance people," parent Laura Dibella said. "We are the blue collar people, and it's never been any different."
Dibella has opened her home to parents unable to find child care this week, while the Boys and Girls club in Greenwich has agreed to take in about 75 kids.
Officials are working on a plan to relocate West Hamilton students to other schools. While classes will remain intact, the solution is far from ideal.
"My younger one can't take a bus," parent Meagan Darling said. "My older one, I guess she could, but I'm not going to put her on a bus with strange children going to a strange place. I'm not comfortable with that."
Hamilton Avenue School Relocation Plan:
District and School Administrators, in consultation with members of the Board of Education and school PTA, are developing a plan to relocate Hamilton Avenue School students and staff for the remainder of the school year.
The Relocation Plan will address new sites for HAS students and staff, transportation, furniture, materials, resources, delivery of instruction for special subjects, schedules, after school programs, etc.
Board of Education Emergency Meeting:
he Board of Education will hold an Emergency Meeting on Monday, March 3, 2008 at 7 PM at the Greenwich High School Auditorium. The Board will discuss and communicate the status of the facility and a relocation plan for Hamilton Avenue School students and staff for the remainder of the school year. There will be an opportunity for public comment and questions.
The superintendent continues to work in consultation with District and school administrators, Board of Education members, the First Selectman, Chairman of the BET, Town Department of Health officials, environmental consultants, and members of the PTA as we continue to investigate the extent of the facility issues at HAS and a plan for relocation.
Visit GreenwichSchools.org and follow the link on the home page for more information.
(Copyright ©2008 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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1 comments
Post A Comment 1 Purrfectstudent 3/3/08 8:26 PM EST
i find it funny how some prissy prioss school in conneticut gets shut down and everyone makes a fuss yet at my school ive complained since freshman year( i am now a senior) that there is asbestos in the walls its over 100 yrs old that building and theres always leaks relocated classrooms crumbling walls ect and not a single person panics enoug to close the school ... yup its true the squeekiest door gets the grease gets the oil more corruption wonderful Mark As Violation
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SMH comment submitted:
For extensive information about mold in schools and how mold impacts health, visit www.schoolmoldhelp.org. To obtain our SMH Parent Checklist for School Health, Download the SMH Parent Checklist for School Health to help determine if your child's school may be unhealthy! Includes partial list of symptoms* reported by researchers to be associated with Sick School Buildings, go to http://www.schoolmoldhelp.org/content/category/12/137/63/. This school district has had several incidents with mold and would be well advised to be far more proactive in preventing it. We are glad to see that they are, at least, acting swiftly now, to protect the children and staff by removing them from the buildings.
Was it maintenance or design flaws?
http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/local/scn-gt-protestmar04,0,445167.story
Go to URL above to view Photos
Hamilton Avenue School student Courtney Roina, 6, joins other students and parents protesting outside the Board of Education in central Greenwich (Bob Luckey Jr./Staff photo)
Mar 4, 2008
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By Martin B. Cassidy
Staff Writer
Published March 4 2008
After the sudden closing of Hamilton Avenue School after the discovery of mold throughout temporary classrooms, Mina Bibeault wondered if the Board of Education missed a chance to tackle the contamination with routine maintenance.
Bibeault, who has two children at the school, said there had been complaints earlier in the year about water leaking into the building, well before the investigation of a roof leak in a fifth-grade classroom last week found the mold problem.
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"I don't think they looked into the water problem," the Byram woman said. "We've put up with a lot and they've put our kids at risk."
More than 20 Hamilton Avenue School parents and their displaced school children picketed outside the Havemeyer Building yesterday morning to show their anger about a weeklong shutdown of the school.
Superintendent Betty Sternberg on Saturday announced the school would be closed this week and students relocated to other locations for the remaining school year because of health concerns about the mold. The closure was taken as a precaution and not prompted by health complaints, she said.
Results of more comprehensive mold and air quality testing are pending, she said.
Protesters, many who took the day off, slammed education officials for the sudden closure, the potential health risk posed to their children by mold and an expected plan to move classes to different schools throughout town.
"This is about me getting a call on Saturday that my children will not be able to go to school on Monday," said Hector Ruiz, a former co-president of the school's PTA.
Exposure to toxic allergens produced by mold can trigger respiratory and sinus infections, skin irritation, and more severe respiratory conditions in the young and those with weakened immune systems, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Whether and how soon the modulars on the campus of Western Middle School could be opened again depends on a variety of factors, a town health official and building professionals said.
Mold, which is a fungus, grows faster in warmer temperatures, but also spreads if moisture, oxygen and organic matters are available, they said.
The extent of the mold growth in the school is still unknown, but condensation found within the walls and roof areas of the building this weekend raise serious health questions, said Michael Long, director of Greenwich Department of Health's environmental services division.
"From what I've been told and what I saw the problem is being caused by moisture in the walls and soffits of the roof and wouldn't be an easy remediation," Long said. "The whole thing with controlling mold is about controlling moisture."
Charles Schwartz, an environmental consultant hired by the town, said last night that the moisture and mold in the modulars was due to design and construction flaws, not a lack of maintenance.
When mold infiltrates into the inner spaces of buildings, eliminating it is usually more expensive, requiring workers to open up walls to reach it, David Morris, a partner in Advanced Mold Testing LLC in Wilton.
Some building materials, such sheet rock, are difficult to rid of mold and must be removed,while metal and plastic can be cleaned, Morris said.
"It depends on the material you are remediating and how much surface area is damaged," Morris said. "Once it gets behind walls and stuff like that it can be a major problem."
Lisa Horsch, another Hamilton Avenue School parent at the protest, said she might prefer keeping her daughter at the temporary building rather than being sent to a different school if the mold threat has been exaggerated.
"I don't know if they need to close the modulars," Horsch said.
Sternberg issued a statement yesterday explaining that she considered closing the modular building as preferrable to taking a risk with students' health.
"The situation at Hamilton Avenue School is one that we are taking very seriously," Sternberg said in a statement yesterday. "Our number one priority is the health and safety of our students and staff. We are erring on the side of caution by closing down the modulars."
Copyright © 2008, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.
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