Mold found in at least 6 Forsyth County schools

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Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Mold found in at least 6 Forsyth County schools

Cleanup expected to be finished by next week

By le Deaver

JOURNAL REPORTER

Winston-Salem,NC,USA

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Principals in at least six schools came across unpleasant surprises

in their classrooms this summer: drifts of mold scattered across

carpets, on furniture or on walls.

" (It grows) in the heat of the summer. On furniture and

carpeting ... like a whitish, light green color, " said Doreen

Sorensen, the principal at Bolton Elementary School.

Officials at Bolton, and Jefferson Elementary schools and

Meadowlark and Kernersville middle schools all called the school

system's central office about mold problems, said Gene , the

assistant superintendent of operations for the Winston-Salem/

Forsyth County Schools. Other schools may have had problems but had

them cleaned up by their own janitorial staffs, he said.

" We have had some mold reports from there, and we've gone in and are

continuing to work on it and clean it up, " he said. " It's something

we've dealt with a lot this summer. "

All the work is expected to be completed before the opening of

school next week.

The two biggest causes of the mold have been summer cleaning and the

hot, humid weather, said. Carpets that don't dry completely

after being shampooed sometimes get moldy in the humid summer air.

The change in temperature between the air-conditioned daytime hours

and hotter night hours can also cause condensation to collect on the

carpets and turn into mold, he said.

Bolton has had problems with mold before, so when the weather got

humid this year, Sorensen and her staff started checking furniture,

walls and carpet, and found some mold.

They called the maintenance staff for help. Heating and air-

conditioning people checked the air and worked on the air

conditioning to make it more efficient. The maintenance staff

removed the carpet and laid new carpeting. They wiped down the

floors, furniture and walls in the classrooms, and left the air

conditioning running continuously to keep the school dry, she said.

That's the way the school system handles most cases of mold,

said. If the problem with the mold on the carpets isn't too bad, the

staff tries to clean them first.

A good cleaning usually takes care of mold on the floors, walls and

furniture, he said.

" If we have mold that starts to grow in the classroom, we go in and

wipe down the furniture, floors and walls, " he said. " It's usually a

matter of cleaning it up. It needs food. "

Sorensen said that the staff at Bolton will continue to check for

mold, especially when weather forecasts call for high humidity.

• le Deaver can be reached at 727-7279 or at

ddeaver@...