Parkade school faces roof leaks after snowstorm

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Parkade school faces roof leaks after snowstorm

Parents say mold triggering asthma.

Columbia Daily Tribune

By JANESE HEAVIN of the Tribune's staff

Published Wednesday, December 13, 2006

http://www.showmenews.com/2006/Dec/20061213News005.asp

Roof leaks are nothing new at Parkade Elementary School, but melting

snow from last week's storm caused an unprecedented flood of water

into classrooms, hallways and supply closets.

" It was like somebody turned a faucet on, " Principal Betsy Baker

said of the scene Monday morning.

Trash cans, buckets and recycling containers lined the hallways to

collect the water and had to be emptied constantly, Baker said

yesterday. The school called in a night custodian to help mop up the

mess.

The water caused a power glitch in Becky Melton's fifth-grade

classroom, preventing her from using the technology she'd planned

for the day's lesson. School supplies stored in a closet in Brett

Hecker's fourth-grade classroom were ruined. The school's literacy

area was still out of commission yesterday, and electric fans worked

to freshen the dingy air.

Although Monday was a little more chaotic than usual, dealing with

leaks has become part of the routine school day at Parkade.

Replacing the school's roof is on a list of priority projects, but

Assistant Superintendent Jacque Cowherd said he's not sure the

district can afford a new roof until voters approve a bond issue.

The district plans to ask for a $60 million, no-tax-increase bond

this coming April.

But parents Don and Spradling say the roof needs to be

repaired sooner than that. They say district dollars are dumped into

schools that don't need improvements while their two children suffer

asthma symptoms triggered by excessive mold in the school.

" My son hadn't had any problem until he started Parkade last year, "

Don Spradling said. Now, he said, his son's asthma is " horrible. "

Both children, ages 6 and 8, missed as much as a month's worth of

schooling last year because they had difficulty breathing,

Spradling said.

" I don't think it's something that can wait, " she said. " As far as

I'm concerned, if we wait, what are we waiting for? The roof to

collapse and someone to get injured? The mold issue to cause medical

problems? Why do we have to wait for something to happen? "

About 40 Parkade students use inhalers to control asthma, the

school's nurse, Cecilia Glynn, said. While mold and mildew can

trigger symptoms, Glynn said, she had no way of knowing whether air

quality at Parkade is making children's asthma worse. Columbia

Public Schools officials are expected to test the building tomorrow

to determine whether mold counts are excessively high.

Mold spores also can cause burning eyes, headaches and other health

problems, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Glynn said teachers complain of chronic headaches at Parkade, but,

again, she couldn't say for sure the air quality is causing those

health problems.

The Spradlings fear those unhealthy working conditions will drive

away good teachers. The teaching staff is the primary reason they

keep their kids at Parkade. " But how long are they going to put up

with that? " Spradling asked. " When the teachers are gone,

that's when we'll probably be gone. "

Board of Education member Gadbois complained about

Parkade's conditions after being elected in April. " After spending

only a few minutes in the " media " center, I felt sick, " Gadbois

wrote in an e-mail she sent to central office staff on April 27. " I

worry about the students, the quality of the materials in the media

center and the loss of resources due to dampness and resulting mold. "

Yesterday, Gadbois said she was disappointed nothing has been done

to correct the situation. " This building is deplorable, and we need

to do something about it, " she said.

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Reach Janese Heavin at (573) 815-1705 or jheavin@....