Parents want school's mold tested

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Parents want school's mold tested

Cleanup is delayed until after tests done

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Saturday, April 30, 2005

By Barbier

St. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau

A judge on Friday ordered Chalmette Christian Academy to postpone

any cleanup of mold in classrooms until after the mold can be tested

May 7.

Parents of three students at the school filed suit Thursday claiming

the mold is associated with a variety of illnesses experienced by

the students. The school has about 225 students in prekindergarten

through eighth grade. It also has a program for toddlers.

In a letter recently sent home to parents, the school at 209 W.

Magnolia St. in Chalmette said it had received comments from parents

concerned about the possibility of mold in the rooms at the back of

the school and that samples had been sent to a lab for testing.

In a statement released by the school Friday, officials said the

results were in and that they " showed no reason for alarm. " The

school also noted that it had hired a local remediation company to

investigate and advise officials of the situation .

" This process is still ongoing, and we are following their

protocol, " the statement said. " We cherish the children attending

Chalmette Christian Academy, and we strive to keep them in a safe

and nurturing environment.

School administrator ph Linton said classes are being held as

usual, but he declined further comment.

At a hearing Friday morning in state District Judge

Fernandez' court, an attorney for parents Barry Cardon and

Dauterive asked the judge to prohibit the school from proceeding

with any clean-up of the mold until after the parents can have it

tested by experts.

Fernandez said he has received a letter from the attorney for the

school saying officials agreed to having the testing take place.

Fernandez ordered the testing to be done May 7 at 10 a.m. and to

take no more than four hours.

Madro Bandaries, an attorney representing Cardon and Dauterive, said

the moldy conditions apparently had existed at least two months and

that the school's letter created more problems than it solved.

Now, he said, parents just want to know if there is a danger to

students.

" The purpose of the test is to obtain the facts, " he said. " Any

parent would want to know that. "

According to their suit, the mold caused the students to suffer

chronic headaches, nausea, respiratory allergies, burning sensation

in their throats, itchy eyes, fatigue and other problems. The

illnesses were associated with chronic water leaks, clearly visible

mold, offensive odors and " general deterioration " of the school

building, the suit said.

Cardon and Dauterive also sued World Prayer Tabernacle, the church

that apparently owns the school, and the Louisiana Board of Regents,

which has governing authority over Elaine P. Nunez Community

College. The college owns the land and school building, according to

the suit.

Nunez Chancellor Warner, however, said Friday that the state

is not responsible for the upkeep of the building. A contract with

the church " covers us in that, " he said.

Nunez Community College bought the school site in April 2004 for

$540,000 with plans to use the site for future expansion of the

college. Chalmette Christian Academy had announced plans to build a

new school near the church at 4030 Paris Road and to move into it

last fall, but at the academy's open house, officials said the

project was delayed because of financing difficulties.

When the new school wasn't ready, Warner said, the college agreed to

allow the school to remain there at least until the end of the

school year.

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Barbier can be reached at sbarbier@... or (504)

826-3836.