Video - WCVB-TV Boston: Students, Teachers Say School Makes Them Sick (Hull, MA)

December 14, 2006

TheBostonChannel.com

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* Video: _Sick School_

Students, Teachers Say School Makes Them Sick

Administration Says School Is Safe

POSTED: 6:27 pm EST December 12, 2006

UPDATED: 6:42 pm EST December 12, 2006

HULL, Mass. -- School officials in Hull are meeting Tuesday to discuss a mold

issue at a local school that some say is making students sick.

NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu reported that complaints about an unpleasant odor at

the s Elementary School in Hull began in September. It turns out the

problem was mold and now there are questions about lingering health issues.

When students returned to the Elementary School in the fall,

fifth-grade teachers and students housed in the modular units said they

immediately

noticed a strange smell.

" There were six of us out there who began to experienced headaches, sinus

problems, " said fifth-grade teacher Debbie McCarthy.

McCarthy said they notified the administration immediately. Last month,

students were removed from the modular buildings and are now at the middle

school.

" All of the conditions were ripe for mold to grow and it did. It was

discovered and we took immediate action to abate it, " said Hull Schools

Superintendent a Delaney.

But McCarthy, who is also the president of the Teachers' Union, said an

environmental report completed in August already declared that mold was a

problem. The union did not see the report until recently. Then moldy excess

carpeting was found under the units in November. Delaney said as of Tuesday,

teachers

have all relevant information.

" The modular classrooms we discovered some moisture, not mold. There was no

visible mold in the modular buildings, " said Delaney.

McCarthy disagrees with Delaney.

" On Oct. 20, I removed a metal box in my classroom and there was black slime

on the carpet, in the classroom I teach in, " said McCarthy.

The superintendent said misinformation has teachers unnecessarily alarmed,

but McCarthy said problems persist in the original building where students are

still attending classes while constructio

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