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School District Discovers Mold Tracking a Variable Art
http://www.greenwichcitizen.com/localnews/ci_9647028
By Anne W. Semmes
Article Last Updated: 06/20/2008 10:37:16 AM EDT
Trying to ascertain what mold there was within the modular classrooms that housed the Hamilton Avenue School students the last three years has proven an illusive task.
Since the discovery of mold in March this year, which caused the emergency displacement of students into other schools across the district, three major mold testing studies have been performed - all with somewhat different results.
The March study, carried out by Charles Schwartz of Environmental Assessments and Solutions, found the mold problem primarily situated in the walls of two classrooms, Room Six and Room Seven, with other key locations in the roof overhang and soffits.
A group of 35 concerned Hamilton Avenue parents of 64 students then determined on their own testing of the modulars, which were granted by the Board of Education on the condition the board would do its own testing concurrently on site. Both tests took place on May 9.
The results of the air testing by the board performed by Stamford-based Hygenix found active mold growth within Classrooms Six and Seven. The parental study, done by the Forest Hills, N.Y., firm of Leighton Associates, showed "very heavy" levels of mold growth in the carpeting for Room Six,
which earlier served as the school's media center before being used by pre-kindergartners last year.
Both studies showed high mold spore levels outside the building and in the crawl space underneath, an area not of primary concern in the March study.
Bob Brown, environmental consultant with Hygenix, said any testing of the outside area "varies according to different times of year."
"You'll get higher counts on warmer spring and summer days and dramatically lower counts on cooler or winter days," Brown said. "There is a variability in the test results."
Factors that might have contributed to the new mold findings," both in and outside, he said, were possibly "the occupying difference, the temperature" and in "the absence of material and furnishing."
Laura di Bella, one of the Hamilton Avenue parents who initiated the parents' study, reportedly has said she believed - though the Board of Education reassured parents that the mold was primarily in the classroom walls, roof overhang and soffits - that children were exposed to mold spores in the air in the classrooms. She was unavailable for comment.
Bob Leighton, who carried out the parents' study, pointed to the importance of the materials and furnishings within the classrooms that had been removed and stored when the modular unit was rigorously cleaned. The inference was, he said, "The children may have been exposed" to the material and that those contents needed decontaminating.
"They got rid of the content - the items are in storage," he said. His firm reportedly was not allowed to test the stored material.
Brown, who spoke from his cell phone atop the modulars, said he was "standing on the roof of Classroom Seven as we speak." He was examining "the roofs and skin of the building in these two classroom locations."
"We'll be giving special attention to those two classrooms," he said. A Glenville School graduate, he considered it his "personal responsibility that this (repair) is done the right way."
Brown had found that the two recent tests "point to similar conclusions," he said. "The problems are with the soffits and the crawl space." But he added, "We need to be sure those small strips of carpeting in the media room are taken out - a small adjustment - so we don't stir up mold. The bottom line is you can benefit from all the test results to come up with solutions."
Ham Ave. PTA co-chair Rose Furano said the board study findings "confirmed the parents' report that there is out-of-the-ordinary amounts of mold."
"There is a sense of gratification in the report, a sense of knowing. It confirms the parent's report.
"We are not focused on the modulars," she said. The majority of her parent body was focused on the future, on the new school building. "We want to make sure our kids get the quality of education they deserve," she said.
Leslie Moriarty, board member and chair of the relocation advisory committee, reported that "the repair work underway in the modular facility is designed to address all issues identified by the experts as causes and contributing factors to the moisture and mold problems. The BOE has confidence that the building will be a safe and secure learning environment for students and staff."
Nancy Weissler, BOE chair, stood by the board's initial mold testing findings in March. "The testing that was done as soon as the mold condition was discovered in March," she said, "indicated that there was no contamination of the interior air quality."
She labeled "all of these tests (that) are evaluating the conditions of the building in May," as "not representative of the conditions when the building was occupied," she said.
"The results of the parent group's hygienist were not unexpected," she said. "We know that there is mold growth and moisture in the exterior portions of the building due to design and construction flaws. We also know that extensive investigative work to determine the causes of the problems, including about 20 openings into the walls and ceiling, had been completed which would impact the environmental conditions. The board's hygienist also reported elevated levels of mold in the building.
In the final analysis, she said, "Both consultants agree that the building can be repaired."
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