Mold Found Inside Keigwin Middle School Classroom

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Mold Found Inside Keigwin Classroom Colony And Cabinetry Removed; Students RelocatedDecember 2, 2003 By PENELOPE OVERTON, Courant Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN -- Another outbreak of mold has been discovered in a local school, but this time the colony was inside a classroom, according to school facilities director Kendall J. .A teacher at Keigwin Middle School, with an enrollment of 360 sixth-graders, reported a mildew smell in a science lab last week, said. Black mold was found under a leaky sink last Tuesday.The mold, which will not be specifically identified for a few more days, was growing underneath a baseboard, said. A contractor hired by the school district removed both the mold and the cabinetry.The leaky sink had already been repaired, said. said he didn't know how many children had been exposed to the mold because Keigwin students attend classes in different rooms, unlike elementary school students who spend most of their time in one room.Science classes scheduled for the affected lab were held in another room Wednesday until the contractors removed the mold and cabinetry Friday, when students were out on Thanksgiving break, said.The classes will return to the room as soon as the cabinets are replaced.About one in 10 people are sensitive to mold, developing symptoms of a mild cold, such as nasal stuffiness, eye irritation and wheezing, when exposed over time to a large mold colony, said. No one at Keigwin has reported any mold-related health problems to the school nurse, said. A letter was sent home to parents of sixth-graders on Wednesday, said School Superintendent Carol Parmelee-Blancato.The cost of the mold testing and remediation had not been calculated yet, said, but will be absorbed within the district's maintenance budget. In this instance, all costs will be born by the school district.The district will conduct a follow-up test in another week, said.The cost of cleaning up a mold outbreak at Van Buren Moody Elementary School last month was borne by the leasing company that sold and installed two portable classrooms where leaks had developed.An inspector detected levels of mold in a Moody hallway that were almost three times greater than what is deemed "acceptable" by environmental health experts. Four kinds of mold were identified, none of which pose a serious health threat.