Palmetto Elementary uses winter break to remove mold

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Posted on Fri, Jan. 05,

Palmetto Elementary uses winter break to remove mold

SYLVIA LIM

Herald Staff Writer

Bradenton Herald - Bradenton,FL

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/living/education/16386971.htm

PALMETTO - When she took her son to school at Palmetto Elementary on

Thursday, Sullivan noticed there was something in the air: A

better smell.

Sullivan's son, a kindergartner who /suffers from seasonal asthma,

is glad that district officials took advantage of the holidays to

try to clean up the school's mold problem.

Over the winter break, a work crew ripped out 20-year-old carpets

from two of the buildings and replaced them with tile flooring, said

Forrest Branscomb, the district's risk manager.

They cleaned out the fans and motors of the air-conditioning system -

trouble spots for mold growth and dust collection, Branscomb said.

Mold and air sampling done before the cleanup, did not show anything

alarming, he said.

" One thing we did was compared the outside with the inside, " he

said. " All the results inside were better than outside. "

The types of mold found in classrooms and buildings are common to

the outdoors, too, he said.

Still, the school district decided to clean the school after

receiving about 10 complaints from teachers about the problem.

The mold problem was not a new one, school administrators said, as

the school was built and added onto for the past 40 years. In the

past four years, teachers have been complaining about allergy

symptoms and a mildewy odor.

Mold can cause allergic reactions for some, and breathing in spores

can trigger asthma or cause itchy eyes.

Prior to the holidays, Sullivan had taken her son to the emergency

room.

" He had a reaction, but I didn't know what it was from, " she said.

After the scare, her son missed the last week of school and a doctor

told her he was allergic to mold.

She was pleased with the cleanup, but said she noticed that there

was more work to be done, such as replacing ceiling tiles that show

signs of mold.

The mold problem will have to be re-examined when school is out in

summer, Branscomb said.

He acknowledged that the mold will not disappear despite the recent

cleaning because of the age of the school. For example, the air-

conditioning system lacks adequate humidity control.

" We will monitor this throughout the year, " he said.

The district is wary of spending the money to overhaul the air-

conditioning system because Palmetto Elementary may be moving in to

a new campus soon.

But that project is stalled by Palmetto city commissioners'

unwillingness to chip in $1.6 million to keep the school downtown.

City and district officials have been working to assemble properties

north of the school to rebuild a bigger campus. The budget for the

land totaled $3.8 million, and the district is willing to pay $2.2

million.

Last month, the district and city commissioners decided to delay the

project to do more homework.

Bob Gause, a school board member, said then he was exploring an

option of reconfiguring the school so it would take up only half the

properties officials were thinking of buying.

On Thursday, Gause said the district will form a team to look into

such options and recommend them to the board.

Palmetto Mayor Larry Bustle said the city will work things out, too.

" The position I am maintaining is that we think Palmetto Elementary

School is a vital part of downtown and we will work hard for it to

stay where it is, " Bustle said.

" When all is said and done, I think the commissioners will agree to

assist somehow in the purchase of the property, to some extent. "

Sylvia Lim, education reporter, can be reached at 745-7041 or

slim@....