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Mold leads to classroom closings at Daufuskie school
http://www.islandpacket.com/front/story/6632658p-5908935c.html
From Staff Reports
Published Thursday, August 23, 2007
DAUFUSKIE ISLAND — Classrooms at Daufuskie Island School have been closed after they were found to be infected with mold, according to a school district news release.
The students have been relocated to the library building near the main building where they will attend classes until the rooms are safe, which should be early next week, the release said.
Mold grew behind the walls of the school after an air conditioning unit apparently leaked. The moisture fed the mold. The highest concentrations were of penicillium/aspergillus types with others, including stachybotrys, appearing in lower amounts, the release said.
The affected walls have been removed and replaced, and the defective air conditioner replaced.
“No one will go back into those classrooms until all the mechanical systems are functioning properly, all the scientific air samplings indicate a safe indoor air quality, and we’ve done a complete anti-microbial scrub-down of the rooms from top to bottom,” said Larry Wilson, district executive director of operations.
Mold cleanup cost at Daufuskie Island school to top $40,000
By PETER FROST
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843-706-8169
Published Saturday, September 1, 2007
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DAUFUSKIE ISLAND -- The Beaufort County School District will spend more than $40,000 and pull children out of class for up to a week to fix a mold problem at Daufuskie Island Elementary School.
District officials say a leaky air conditioner and improper plumbing allowed moisture to collect behind the walls and under the floor in one of the school's two classrooms, causing high concentrations of mold to form.
This week, high mold concentrations also were found in a closet in the school's library building next door. Mold can cause health problems for those with allergies or respiratory issues.
A contractor specializing in mold cleanup will spend up to a week sanitizing the air conditioning units, floors, walls, desks, books and other classroom materials exposed to the contamination. Work could begin as soon as Tuesday, said Jennifer Staton, the district's risk manager.
The school's 18 students will be excused from classes during the cleanup and will make up missed days during a three-week intersesssion this month and in October. Daufuskie Elementary is on a year-round calendar. The district is working with parents, some of whom scheduled vacations over the three-week period, to determine the make-up dates.
After teachers discovered high concentrations of mold behind a bookshelf and in a closet in a classroom two weeks ago, the district ordered the classroom sealed off and children moved to the library.
Following a $10,000 project in which a contractor removed and cleaned the air conditioner and replaced damaged areas of the floors and walls, students were moved back into the main building.
But on Aug. 23, after the district announced it was still awaiting results of air-quality tests, concerned parents and the school's two teachers moved the children back into the library until they were sure the building was safe.
Some parents pulled their children out of school, and only one student and one teacher showed up for classes Aug. 24, said John C. Williams, a district spokesman.
After air-quality tests came back indicating most of the school was safe, children and teachers returned to the main building this week. The affected classroom remained sealed off, and classes were held in a resource room in the building's main corridor.
After they had moved back to the school from the library, inspectors found high concentrations of mold in a closet of the library. Students have been kept out of the library building until the contractor is able to replace portions of walls and flooring there.
"It's been sort of the perfect storm over there," Staton said. "The mold was concealed in a wall, and it could have been there for quite some time. It was just kind of a hidden problem."
The school's staff, she said, did the right thing by removing the children from the classroom and library and alerting the district to the problem.
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