Downey High checks airborne mold levels

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Downey High checks airborne mold levels

Band storage room damaged; Modesto High boiler is down

Modesto Bee,CA

By MERRILL BALASSONE

BEE STAFF WRITER

http://www.modbee.com/local/v-rssxml/story/13335483p-13960851c.html

The door to Downey High School's band storage room was covered with

plastic sheeting Tuesday while the air was tested for signs of mold

found last week.

The mold has been cleaned from the ceiling and instrument cases;

additional tests will determine if there are elevated levels of mold

in the air, said e D'Lena, the district's director of

facilities and construction.

A report by the district's environmental consultant, Hazardous

Management Services Inc., will be released Monday.

" There was mold that was definitely irritating people, " D'Lena

said. " That's being cleaned up. "

D'Lena said the culprit was a broken steam line running between the

auditorium and the cafeteria from the school's boiler system. Water

dripped into the band's storage room and fogged the windows of the

auditorium.

The heating system has been turned off in the area until the line

can be fixed, D'Lena said. Downey High School was built in the early

1950s and still runs on its original boiler system.

Downey isn't the only Modesto school with plumbing problems this

week. Monday night, a boiler system heating the pool and locker

rooms at Modesto High School malfunctioned. D'Lena said it will take

about three weeks to repair the boiler, so the school's swim team

will use an alternate practice facility until the pool can be heated.

Overdue for an overhaul

At Downey, Principal Phil Alfano said several stringed instruments

suffered water damage and need to be repaired. The silks used by the

marching band have been cleaned, and some of the large instrument

cases need to be replaced.

" It was stinky and humid, " Alfano said of the storage

facility. " It's in bad shape. "

This summer, the school will begin a $10 million modernization

project over nearly three years that includes a new air conditioning

and heating system for the auditorium and other parts of the campus.

Alfano said the school is overdue for an overhaul.

" (The boiler system) is antiquated, " he said. " It was probably an

antiquated system when the school was built. Our staff is excited

this is finally happening. "

To comment, click on the link with this story at www.modbee.com. Bee

staff writer Merrill Balassone can be reached at

mbalassone@... or 578-2337