Schools battle mold

[Guest guest]

Schools battle mold

By Malcom, News-Leader

http://www.fbnewsleader.com/articles/2005/12/03/news/01newsmold.txt

Fernandina Beach,FL

There is evidence of mold in ceiling tiles in these photos taken by

a teacher at Callahan Middle School. Submitted

A series of mold problems inside various Nassau County schools has

led to written complaints from school employees along with questions

from school board members. The humid southeastern climate is at

least partly to blame, said school district Director of Facilities

Cris McConnell.

" I'm not going to tell you that the issue is resolved, because it's

not, " McConnell told the Nassau County School Board in

October. " We're continuing to look at different items. "

McConnell has faced a series of complaints from school employees,

parents of students and principals over the past several months, as

well as continuing questions from school board members.

Schools including Callahan Intermediate, Fernandina Beach High,

Yulee Primary and Callahan Middle have been plagued by mold problems

since early this year. McConnell said he hopes the problem will

subside as drier, cooler weather approaches.

" We've had an extremely wet summer and early fall, so the (mold)

problem has been more prevalent this year than most years, "

McConnell said in an interview.

Martha , a librarian at Yulee Primary School, has lodged

several complaints with Principal Gray via e-mail, saying

she has suffered health problems as a result of mold inside the

school's library.

" I have been sick, sick and sicker, " said in an e-mail to

Gray dated Oct. 3. " I have lost days, and last year I lost pay ... I

cannot give up until this library is cleaned up. "

The mold outbreak resulted in all of the books being cleaned and

window seals being replaced. The mold was not growing inside the

books, but residual mold spores could have collected inside the

books.

Sometimes areas of mold spring from faulty air conditioning

equipment or a plumbing leak. Those problems are typically easy to

fix, McConnell said. More difficult to deal with is the semi-

tropical climate. Federal standards, set by the American Society of

Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, require 15

cubic feet of outside air to be cycled through a school building per

minute for each potential occupant of the building. McConnell said

continuously bringing humid outside air into the buildings creates

an atmosphere of moisture that can be difficult to control.

" It's not just localized to Nassau County, it's a problem all over

the state of Florida and any other states that have high relative

humidity, " he said.

Some of the newer schools, including Yulee Middle and the new Yulee

High School, are equipped with outside air units that remove

moisture - " pre-drying the air " - before air enters the schools,

which significantly minimizes the problem, McConnell said.

Older buildings have also been fitted with the air units, but

McConnell said the units aren't always considered appropriate or

cost-effective.

" When it becomes necessary ... to do retrofit on air conditioning,

then we certainly will look at using the air units, " he said. " Some

of the classroom additions ... locker room additions, but sometimes

we have not done that because of design issues, because of code

changes.

" We haven't done it sometimes because we didn't have the space to do

it. "

McConnell said there have been only two reports of illnesses that

may have been caused by the mold; and a volunteer in the

library at Yulee Primary have been ill, he said, and it's possible

the problems were caused by mold in the library.

" () has missed some days of work; she thinks it's a result

of the mold, " he said. " We have not had any complaints from the

principal ( Gray) relating to children being sick in

there ... she says one of her volunteers had some allergy problems

while she was in there. If they're the ones opening and closing all

the books, it's very likely that it has caused the problems. "

In an Oct. 4 e-mail to school board member Kathy Burns, Carol L.

Rose, a teacher's aide at Callahan Middle School, said mold inside

the school was causing discomfort for employees and students.

" Anyone that walks into building 14 can immediately smell the

(stench) of mold, " she said. " After an extended amount of time in

certain classrooms the students, teachers, support staff and even

guests note the sinus problems and the sore throat ... I have yet to

come across anyone that was asked if they were having any type of

health-related problems due to our CMS mold issue. "

On Tuesday, Rose said she believes the problem is being resolved.

" I'm under the impression that a continuous ongoing effort is being

made for the maintenance staff to stay on top of that ... they're

doing everything in their power, " she said. " ... We enjoy working

here but we want it to be safe for the children and safe for us. "

McConnell and Tim Groat, manager of operations over custodial

services for the school system, said they have been working with

custodians at the schools to clean up the mold as soon as possible

and find the source of the mold so it can be completely eradicated,

and he said they respond to complaints as soon as they are received.

, an environmental specialist with the Florida

Department of Education, said several school districts battle mold

problems as well, although the problem is not limited to schools.

" With (mold) being ubiquitous and omnipresent ... they're getting it

everywhere they go, " said. " ... I don't know about pointing

the finger (at schools) when it's in everybody's homes. "

" It's just a battle, " Groat said. " You go (to the school with a mold

problem), and the first thing you do is clean ... and then you start

trying everything that you know to sort out the problem. "

smalcom@...

Story created Dec 03, 2005 - 07:11:37 PST.