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Boards disagree over school mold removal funding
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18931196&BRD=1654&PAG=461&dept_id=12915&rfi=6
By:Meg Learson Grosso, Staff Writer10/18/2007
There was no lack of conflicting opinions at the Westport Board of Finance work session with the Board of Education last Wednesday night.
Of the $1.888 million in emergency appropriations that the school board is requesting, approximately $850,000 is for repointing of brick in four schools, and $750,000 is for removal of carpeting. The rest is for mainly for environmental testing and experts to check out either air quality or air systems.
Westport resident Gene Burgess opened the session by saying that he had some background in biotechnology and that "Studies show that synthetic carpeting doesn't support microbial action, including fungus." He said that hospitals, including Yale-New Haven, Greenwich, Norwalk, and Danbury, all had carpeting.
Further, he said that school board member Mark Mathias had pointed out at one of the board meetings that Air Quality consultant Gil Cormier had not recommended removal of all the carpeting, although some connected with the school board seemed to be saying that he had.
Gavin Anderson, former finance board member and chair of the King's Highway Elementary School Maintenance Committee, later clarified this, stating that Cormier had recommended removing carpets that were on slabs below grade right away, but carpeting on slabs above grade could be removed gradually, depending on age and wear. Anderson said that most of the carpets at King's highway were new. He did not comment on what might be at other schools.
School board chair Mary Parmelee pointed out that the request would have been over $1,050,000 to remove all carpets in all schools.
Board of Finance member Allyson Stollenwerck asked if the $752,000 wasn't just for carpets at ground level and Schools Supt. Dr. Elliott Landon said, "Correct," adding that dollar amount also included necessary asbestos abatement in some cases.
Finance board member Avi Kaner asked how necessary it was to replace carpeting.
Anderson replied that there was no mold on any carpet at King's Highway school.
"Have you found evidence at any other schools?" asked Kaner.
"Over the years we have," said Landon.
"In your opinion, is there a credible mold problem in any of those schools?" asked Kaner.
"I don't believe, but there are mold spores in all carpeting," said Landon.
"You're coming between budgets," said Kaner, adding that this is normally done only for an emergency and, "I have not seen evidence of an emergency."
"Unless the local health district or state department of health declares that the school is dangerous, only then can you have an emergency," said Landon.
"So, why are you requesting of us on an emergency basis?" asked Kaner.
Parmelee replied, "We have had untold hours of parents coming and saying 'my child is sick.'"
Kaner said that he had found literature which contradicted "Gil the expert," and said it was unfounded that carpeting contributed to asthma and allergy. He said that carpets keep the allergens down lower.
Finance board chair Jeffrey Mayer said that one of the professionals on the Public Site and Building Committee said that maintaining tile could be much more expensive than carpeting and that carpeting was not necessarily more risky from a health point of view. "He made the point that it's not so much the material as the maintenance program," said Mayer.
©Westport Minuteman 2007 |
