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Test uncovers mold in wall of Westport school
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-nor.moldaug18,0,5710979.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
The Advocate
Stamford Advocate - Stamford,CT,USA
By Lisa Chamoff
Staff Writer
Published August 18 2007
WESTPORT - Mold was found this week behind the walls of the gymnasium at King's Highway Elementary School,
adding to a committee's task of investigating air quality there.
R. Gavin Anderson, who heads of the King's Highway School Special Maintenance Committee, said there were
concerns about moisture in the gymnasium, which is located below ground.
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Gil Cormier, an air quality specialist based in New Britain who was hired by the town, found mold and moisture
behind wallboard after drilling holes in gymnasium's east and west walls.
A Norwalk firm on Monday will begin cleanup work that will take three days, Anderson said. Material will be tested
for mold, and workers will look into how moisture got inside the wall.
A number of parents have said school administrators did not properly address their concerns about a mold-infested
modular classroom that closed last fall, or problems in a second-grade classroom, where 14 of 19 students had
respiratory ailments and teachers were affected.
First Selectman Gordon Joseloff, responding to the parents' complaints, assembled the committee late last month.
The committee also is testing carpeting, ceiling tiles and air conditioners from several classrooms for mold. The
modular classroom was demolished Aug. 8, and Cormier is examining two other portable classrooms on the
property.
The consultant also is reviewing above-normal carbon monoxide levels in some classrooms. Anderson said this
might be due to kitchen exhaust that was sucked into a classroom through its air conditioning vent.
The problem might be fixed by changing a roof vent, he said.
The committee is meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Room 309 at Town Hall. Anderson said the group plans to
recommend to the Board of Education whether King's Highway should reopen on Aug. 27.
School parent Alison Reilly said she is happy with the committee's work.
"I'm 100 percent safe (with) Gil and Gavin and the effort they've been making," Reilly said.
Copyright © 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.
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