Board of Education approves $1.3M to combat mold in schools

October 23, 2002

2002-10-22

by

of The Daily Times Staff

The Blount County Board of Education put its stamp of approval on a $1.3

million expenditure to combat mold in school facilities during a called

meeting Monday.

The motion passed unanimously with Board Members Simerly and Don

Talbott not present.

It was a simple housekeeping measure designed to formalize expenditures that

the Blount County Commission has already approved.

``We just have to get the board to formally request that amount of money,''

Director of Schools Alvin Hord said.

On Thursday, the County Commission agreed to fund $1.3 million for mold

abatement and preventative measures in Montvale Elementary, Friendsville

Elementary and Blount High School.

``The commissioners were very sympathetic to what we're trying to do,''

Board Chairman ``Booty'' said.

Mold has been a subject of much interest in Blount County Schools recently.

Heritage High School opened Oct. 14 after a 20-day closure to undergo an

extensive mold abatement program.

The school underwent cleaning after testing found higher levels of

aspergillus/penicillium mold in three classrooms in the school than existed

outside.

In other business, board members also attended a training session to learn

about interest-based bargaining, which is an alternate form of negotiations

with teachers.

``In the past, professional negotiations have been what we call

adversarial,'' said. ``... It's an effort to work together to find

common interests and talk about them.''

The Daily Times

307 East Harper Ave.

ville, TN 37801

or PO Box 9740, 37802-9740

Phone: 865-981-1100

Fax: 865-981-1175

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