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This school district has had mold problems that have gone unresolved for a number of years - you may also read the NIOSH report on Hilton Head's school mold, on our site, previously issued.
Leaking water creates mold, air quality problems at five county schools
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/76238.html
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By PETER FROST
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843-706-8169
Published Sunday, November 11, 2007
Since the beginning of this school year, at least five schools in southern Beaufort County have reported problems with water leaking, according to school officials, teachers and district officials. Those schools include Hilton Head Island High, Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Elementary, M.C. Riley Elementary, Bluffton High and Daufuskie Elementary.
Students were pulled out of Daufuskie Elementary for at least six days earlier this school year, and parents have removed students from at least two other district schools due to concerns about compromised air quality.
District spokesman John Williams said water problems and air quality concerns are constant challenges for Beaufort County's 28 schools. Even in one of the district's newest schools -- the three-year-old Bluffton High -- problems related to leaking water have been reported this year.
"Given our environment, which includes low-lying ground and very damp conditions, indoor air quality is an ongoing challenge," Williams said. "But, we do not take concerns lightly and we've been very proactive in addressing them. The health of school workers, staff, students and visitors is critically important to us."
Mold and related pollutants can cause serious health problems with some people, including those with asthma and other respiratory issues.
Williams said systems are in place for teachers and administrators who find potential problems with mold or leaking ceilings to report them to the district. Once those concerns are filed, he said, a maintenance crew is sent to inspect the problems to determine if a fix is required.
Those fixes have been frequent -- and expensive.
Although Williams said the district wasn't immediately able to provide a total cost of water-damage related repairs, he acknowledged expenses have been extensive.
"We've got a lot of (buildings with) flat roofs, and that tends to create pooling and open up the vulnerability to leaks," Williams said. "When you get 2 or 3 inches of rain all at once, you tend to have a lot of issues that pop up, and it costs money each time that happens."
Aside from fixing frequent roof leaks, the district has also systematically been removing carpet in classrooms over the past six or seven years and replacing them with tile and area rugs, Williams said.
THE PROBLEMS
• Major rainfalls in July flooded several buildings at the Hilton Head schools campus, leading to a $60,000 district project to replace all carpeting with tile at the International Baccalaureate elementary school, district officials said Friday.
Water backed up into the school's media center, cafeteria and some classrooms.
Although the district made some repairs shortly after the damage was reported, its maintenance team continues to monitor the school's structure, air quality and other measures to identify any water-related damages, district officials said.
"Right now our immediate focus is on the water damage at Hilton Head IBE, starting with replacing the damaged carpet with tile," Phyllis White, the district's chief operational services officer said in a statement.
• At M.C. Riley Elementary School, maintenance crews removed water-damaged carpet from several rooms due to mold concerns before the start of the school year, said Jay Parks, the school's principal.
• The leaking roof at Bluffton High has damaged ceiling tiles and resulted in buckets being placed throughout hallways during heavy rains, teachers and parents said. It's unclear what is being done to address those problems.
"There are problems with the roof leaking," Williams said. "But I don't know of any real problems with mold."
• Students at Daufuskie Island Elementary missed at least six days of class and the district paid more than $30,000 to fix a mold problem earlier this school year.
• Hilton Head Island High School has had several roof leaks and carpet damage over the past several years, teachers and administrators said.
First-year Principal Amanda O'Nan said maintenance workers have been to the school several times within the past six months fixing leaks in the roof, damaged ceiling tiles and other problems.
"Of course, this building is big, and like a car, it needs to have regular maintenance," O'Nan said. "But nothing to me causes alarm or panic, because the district has been on top of things."
She said she encourages teachers, students and staff members to report problems to her as soon as they find them so she can pass along those concerns to district officials.
"Remember, I work in here, too. I don't want something to happen to myself," O'Nan said. "If something is wrong, believe me, I want it fixed, and that's what I'm telling all of our teachers and parents."
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Mold, air-quality issues ongoing concern at schools
http://www.islandpacket.com/opinion/story/80666.html
Published Friday, November 16, 2007
Here in the wet Lowcountry, mold is a fact of life.
That's why it is imperative the Beaufort County School District have in place a maintenance plan that includes quick response times to keep ahead of this potentially health-threatening problem.
It's also imperative that we understand and account for any construction or structural issues that might lead to problems with mold. A leaking roof at the 3-year-old Bluffton High School is very disturbing, especially given past experience.
And unfortunately, the school district has years of experience in tackling this problem. The district has paid millions of dollars for repairs and cleaning and has faced and filed lawsuits related to air quality and health problems. We've learned that turning off air-conditioning systems during our hot, steamy summers can be a problem, and that carpeting in hallways and classrooms, while good at reducing noise, can increase problems with mold and dirt.
The community's first big
introduction to mold problems came in the early 1990s with problems at the new middle school on Hilton Head Island. After the $9 million school opened in 1991, it was plagued with mold, high levels of carbon dioxide and other air quality problems caused by poor ventilation. District officials filed a lawsuit after spending an estimated $695,000 to correct air-quality problems at the school. The district received $275,000 from companies involved in the school's construction in a mediated settlement.
District officials even blamed mold problems for the 1994 defeat of an $80 million school bond referendum. (Voters approved a $122 million referendum the next year.)
In 2003, the district spent $2.7 million fixing problems at Battery Creek High School, and in 2002 and 2003 spent about $5 million fixing problems in the two older sections of the Hilton Head elementary school. The $3.5 million new HVAC system in the school's "Blue Building" came after teachers filed a complaint with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health about air-quality hazards at the elementary school. The agency inspected the building and found excessive carbon dioxide levels and fungal contamination.
Given that history, it's troubling to learn that since the beginning of the school year, five schools in southern Beaufort County have reported problems with water leaking: Hilton Head Island High, Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Elementary, Michael C. Riley Elementary, Bluffton High and Daufuskie Elementary.
Students were pulled out of Daufuskie Elementary for at least six days earlier this school year, and parents have removed students from at least two other district schools due to concerns about compromised air quality.
The leaking roof at Bluffton High has damaged ceiling tiles and resulted in buckets being placed throughout hallways during heavy rains, teachers and parents said. It's unclear what is being done to address those problems.
District spokesman John Williams says systems are in place for teachers and administrators who find potential problems with mold or leaking ceilings to report them to the district. Maintenance crews are sent to inspect the problems to determine whether a fix is required.
District officials should have a plan in place that's very proactive -- one that does more to prevent problems rather than fix them after they occur.
If they don't stay on top of them, we can be sure another group will move in with another kind of fix -- lawyers.
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NoMoreSchoolMold wrote:
School Mold
As Director of The Center for School Mold Help, I invite this long-suffering school community of parents, teachers, school staff, students and administrators to visit our free resources at www.schoolmoldhelp.org. We have been following some of the history of your district's handling of and maintenance problems with the Hilton Head public school buildings and the resultant endangerment of the schools' occupants, over the past five years. This is on our site, including the NIOSH report from 2003.
I hope the parent community, teacher unions, and local community will step up to the plate and do what it takes to ensure that you have a superintendent and board that will place the highest priority on human life and health. Allowing your children and school staff to occupy continually damp and moldy buildings can destroy the health and economy of your entire town, ultimately.
This is a very serious problem that must be addressed. Obviously the internal solutions are not forthcoming.
Susan Brinchman |
